MIAMI — Turns out, there was a reason the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t worried about a playoff rematch with the Miami Heat in Round 1 this year.
The last four games proved why.
Brook Lopez scored 25 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double — 20 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists — and the Bucks became the first team to advance in this year’s playoffs, beating the Heat 120-103 on Saturday and finishing off a first-round sweep over last season’s Eastern Conference champions.
Bryn Forbes scored 22 points, Khris Middleton had 20, Bobby Portis 13 and Jrue Holiday 11 for Milwaukee. The third-seeded Bucks will face the Brooklyn-Boston winner.
Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 14 rebounds for Miami. The Heat became the second team in this playoff format to go from sweeping in the first round one year to being swept in the first round the next. The only other team to endure that was then-New Jersey Nets, who swept New York in 2004 and lost 4-0 to Miami in 2005.
76ERS 132, WIZARDS 103
WASHINGTON — Joel Embiid set a career playoff high with 36 points and Philadelphia routed Washington to take a 3-0 series lead.
Embiid scored 25 points in the first half, and finished 14 of 18 from the floor in 28 minutes before resting the entire fourth quarter. The top-seeded 76ers will go for the sweep in Game 4 on Monday.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double for Washington after being a game-time decision because of a sprained right ankle. Bradley Beal added 25 points.
JAZZ 121, GRIZZLIES 111
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Donovan Mitchell scored 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and top-seeded Utah beat Memphis to take a 2-1 series lead.
Mike Conley, in Memphis where he started his career, matched his regular-season and playoff career highs with seven 3-pointers and finished with 27 points.
Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 14 rebounds, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson added 15 apiece, and Royce O’Neale had 12.
Game 4 is Monday night in Memphis.
Ja Morant led Memphis with 28 points, and Dillon Brooks had 27 before fouling out.
TRAIL BLAZERS 115, NUGGETS 95
PORTLAND, Ore. — Norman Powell matched his career playoff high with 29 points and Portland beat Denver in Game 4 to even the series.
Powell made four 3-points and was 11 of 15 from the floor, and CJ McCollum added 21 points for the sixth-seeded Trail Blazers.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Denver.
Nikola Jokic finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for third-seeded Denver before sitting out the final quarter.
Portland star Damian Lillard was 1 for 10 from the field but finished with 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. He sat out the fourth quarter.
