Bucks complete sweep of Heat; Blazers tie series against Nuggets

MANILA, Philippines — The Milwaukee Bucks flashed dominant anew in Game 4 against the Miami Heat to complete the sweep, 120-103, at the American Airlines Arena on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time).

The Bucks blasted their tormentors last year with a 4-0 series beatdown to be the first team through to the second round of the playoffs.

Though the Heat were able to take control of the game early, with their backs already against the wall, the Bucks turned the tides in the third salvo where they outscored their opponents, 34-21.

Led by Brook Lopez’ 25 points, the Bucks battled from 12 points down in the first half to take the series ending win.

When the lead changed hands in the third salvo off of a Khris Middleton free throw, 69-68, it marked the beginning of the end for the Miami Heat.

The Bucks would not look back after taking over the lead and ballooned their advantage to as big as 19 markers late in the final period.

They thus showed last year’s finalists the door at only the first round of the playoffs.

Six different Bucks finished in double digit scoring with Lopez leading the pack. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Middleton chipped in with 20 markers each while Bryn Forbes had 22.

Bam Adebayo paced the Heat in their last game of the playoffs with 20 points. Jimmy Butler, who played a key role in their run to the NBA Finals last year, had only 12 markers to end the season.

Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers evened out their series against the third-seeded Denver Nuggets after taking Game 4 at home, 115-95.

In a wire-to-wire win, the Blazers made easy work of Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets where they led by as much as 33 points.

This despite Damian Lillard was limited only to 10 points in the game. Norman Powell led the offense for Portland with 29 markers while Cj McCollum had 21 points.

On the other end, Jokic was unable to get an offensive groove going with only 16 points to lead the Nuggets.

The series thus shifts back to Denver for a pivotal Game 5 on Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time) with both teams with 2 wins apiece.