NBA Playoffs First-Round Highlights: Bucks Beat Raptors For 2-1 Series Lead, Cavs Top Pacers For 3-0 Series Lead

The Milwaukee Bucks routed the Toronto Raptors 104-77 at home Thursday night to take a 2-1 Eastern Conference series lead thanks to a strong scoring performance from Khris Middleton.

NBA Playoff Round 1 Highlights: Bucks beat Raptors, Cavs top Pacers

Middleton had 20 points and seven assists, and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals in Game 3.

Game 4 is Saturday at 3 pm EST in Milwaukee.

“They ambushed us,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “There’s no aspect of our game that we executed whatsoever.”

Toronto All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan, who finished fifth in scoring this season at 27.3 points per game, missed all eight of his field-goal attempts. The Raptors shot just 23.3% in the first half, including 2-for-11 on three-points and scored just 30 points.

The Bucks, meanwhile, shot 52.7% from the field, and 52.2% on three-pointers to gain a 57-25 lead in the second quarter. Greg Monroe contributed 16 points and seven rebounds.

“We’ve got to be better – myself, Kyle (Lowry), us as a team,” DeRozan said. “We have to get stops. We can’t have them shooting 53%.”

Casey seemed to wholeheartedly agree with DeRozan, saying Toronto needed to especially improve offensively.

“It starts with us and myself,” Casey said. “As a staff, we have to do a better job of finding ways for openings and space for us to score. We went back to not moving the basketball like the way we did in Game 1. … Our disposition isn’t what it should be and what is has been. Again, it’s a quick turnaround. It’s one game. We’ve been in this situation before.”

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Indiana Pacers 119-114 on the road on Thursday night to take a 3-0 Western Conference series lead.

LeBron James scored 41 points and had another triple-double for the Cavs, who overcame a 25-point halftime deficit (74-49) for the third-largest comeback in NBA playoff history.

”We knew we had to take (some) punches, but it was a flurry, more than we expected,” said James, who scored 28 points in the second half and finished with 13 rebounds and 12 assists. ”At halftime, I was just looking at the guys and telling them ‘Let’s get a couple stops.”’

“The King” has now moved past Kobe Bryant and into third in the league’s postseason scoring list. Bryant had 5,640 points; James has 5,669.

James has also won 20 straight first-round playoff games, and has helped Cleveland win 11 consecutive first-round contests since he returned to his hometown squad.

Paul George led the Pacers with 36 points and added a career-high 15 rebounds along with nine assists, one shy of his second playoff triple-double.

The Cavs tied the score at 98 and grabbed their first lead since the first quarter when James dunked with 6:27 remaining. After George scored a 3-pointer with 5:15 left to put Indiana up 104-103, James scored on a layup that opened a 12-5 game-winning run.

”We just never quit,” coach Tyronn Lue said. ”We knew the importance of this game. To go up 3-0, makes things a lot more difficult for those guys.”

Cleveland has now won six consecutive games against Indiana.

Game 4 is set for Sunday afternoon in Indiana, where the Pacers will hope to avoid elimination.

The Memphis Grizzlies also beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-94 in Game 3 at home on Thursday, but still trail the series 2-1. Game 4 is Saturday night in Memphis.

MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 20: DeMar DeRozan #10 of the Toronto Raptors works against Matthew Dellavedova #8 of the Milwaukee Bucks during the second half of Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2017 NBA Playoffs at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on April 20, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bucks defeated the Raptors 106-77.