DPA
Washington
Basketball superstar LeBron James set another NBA record on Tuesday by grabbing his 162nd Playoff win when his Los Angeles Lakers’ defeated the Houston Rockets 112-102 in the Western Conference semi-finals’ Game 3.
No other player has ever been more successful in the post-season as James, who surpassed Derek Fisher’s 161 wins.
The Lakers now lead 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
"At the end of the day we just hope we make (Kobe Bryant) and his family proud... and make anybody that’s ever put on a Lakers jersey, we hope we make them proud as well,” James said after the game, paying tribute to the Lakers legend who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this year.
James excelled in Tuesday’s match, particularly in the first half. In total he scored 36 points, grabbed seven rebounds, handed out five assists and got four blocks.
"It says that I’ve played with a lot of great teams,” said James, who won two NBA titles with the Miami Heat and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers. "It says that I’ve played with a lot of great teammates and some great coaches.”
The game was balanced for a long time before the Lakers broke away in the final quarter when they outscored Houston 30-20. It was Los Angeles’ second win in a row after dropping Game 1.
Former most valuable players (MVPs) James Harden and Russell Westbrook played big for the Rockets with 33 and 30 points respectively. However, they did not get enough support from the supporting cast.
Heat oust depleted Bucks to reach East finals
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat punched their ticket to the NBA Eastern Conference finals beating top-seeded Milwaukee 103-94 as injured Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo watched from the bench.
Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic finished with 17 points apiece as six Heat players scored in double figures and Miami completed a 4-1 series victory in a bruising encounter against the league’s top defensive team.
Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 23 points.
Antetokounmpo – tipped to scoop a second straight NBA Most Valuable Player award this season – aggravated his sprained right ankle in the first half of the Bucks’ game-four overtime victory over the Heat.
The Bucks declared him inactive less than an hour before tipoff on Tuesday.
The loss of Antetokounmpo, who averaged career highs of 29.5 points and 13.6 rebounds per game this season, was a huge blow for the Bucks, as they tried to do what no NBA team has done before: come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a seven-game playoff series.
It’s the second straight campaign that the Bucks built the best regular-season record only to come up short in the playoffs.
In 2019 they fell to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference finals.
The fifth-seeded Heat will face either the Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors for a place in the NBA Finals.
The Celtics lead their series against the defending NBA champion Raptors three games to two.
Butler, who added 10 rebounds and six assists and was a perfect eight-for-eight from the foul line, said the Heat’s impressive 8-1 record so far in the playoffs means nothing now.
"All of that is behind us now,” he said. "We’ll wait and see who we get out of Toronto and Boston and then we’ll lock in on that.
"But it’s zero-zero now, we’ve got eight more to get.” The Heat trailed 28-19 after a chaotic first quarter in which they committed six turnovers leading to nine Bucks points.
They trailed by as many as 13 in the first period, but settled down in the second, out-scoring the Bucks 33-18 to take a 52-46 lead into halftime.
But Milwaukee, with Middleton leading the way, refused to go away.
After going scoreless for more than six minutes in the third period the Bucks put together an 8-0 run to pull within five points.
Trailing 73-65 going into the final period, the Bucks trimmed the deficit to four multiple times, but the Heat’s depth finally proved too much.
"Obviously they missed their MVP,” Butler said. "But we knew we were going to have to get one out of the mud and I think this was the one.” Antetokounmpo said he felt "lost” as he was unable to contribute.
"Mentally it was a battle, but at the end of the day you’ve got to trust your teammates and that’s what I decided to do,” he said after the Bucks medical staff persuaded him not to risk further injury by playing.
Washington
Basketball superstar LeBron James set another NBA record on Tuesday by grabbing his 162nd Playoff win when his Los Angeles Lakers’ defeated the Houston Rockets 112-102 in the Western Conference semi-finals’ Game 3.
No other player has ever been more successful in the post-season as James, who surpassed Derek Fisher’s 161 wins.
The Lakers now lead 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
"At the end of the day we just hope we make (Kobe Bryant) and his family proud... and make anybody that’s ever put on a Lakers jersey, we hope we make them proud as well,” James said after the game, paying tribute to the Lakers legend who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this year.
James excelled in Tuesday’s match, particularly in the first half. In total he scored 36 points, grabbed seven rebounds, handed out five assists and got four blocks.
"It says that I’ve played with a lot of great teams,” said James, who won two NBA titles with the Miami Heat and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers. "It says that I’ve played with a lot of great teammates and some great coaches.”
The game was balanced for a long time before the Lakers broke away in the final quarter when they outscored Houston 30-20. It was Los Angeles’ second win in a row after dropping Game 1.
Former most valuable players (MVPs) James Harden and Russell Westbrook played big for the Rockets with 33 and 30 points respectively. However, they did not get enough support from the supporting cast.
Heat oust depleted Bucks to reach East finals
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat punched their ticket to the NBA Eastern Conference finals beating top-seeded Milwaukee 103-94 as injured Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo watched from the bench.
Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic finished with 17 points apiece as six Heat players scored in double figures and Miami completed a 4-1 series victory in a bruising encounter against the league’s top defensive team.
Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 23 points.
Antetokounmpo – tipped to scoop a second straight NBA Most Valuable Player award this season – aggravated his sprained right ankle in the first half of the Bucks’ game-four overtime victory over the Heat.
The Bucks declared him inactive less than an hour before tipoff on Tuesday.
The loss of Antetokounmpo, who averaged career highs of 29.5 points and 13.6 rebounds per game this season, was a huge blow for the Bucks, as they tried to do what no NBA team has done before: come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a seven-game playoff series.
It’s the second straight campaign that the Bucks built the best regular-season record only to come up short in the playoffs.
In 2019 they fell to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference finals.
The fifth-seeded Heat will face either the Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors for a place in the NBA Finals.
The Celtics lead their series against the defending NBA champion Raptors three games to two.
Butler, who added 10 rebounds and six assists and was a perfect eight-for-eight from the foul line, said the Heat’s impressive 8-1 record so far in the playoffs means nothing now.
"All of that is behind us now,” he said. "We’ll wait and see who we get out of Toronto and Boston and then we’ll lock in on that.
"But it’s zero-zero now, we’ve got eight more to get.” The Heat trailed 28-19 after a chaotic first quarter in which they committed six turnovers leading to nine Bucks points.
They trailed by as many as 13 in the first period, but settled down in the second, out-scoring the Bucks 33-18 to take a 52-46 lead into halftime.
But Milwaukee, with Middleton leading the way, refused to go away.
After going scoreless for more than six minutes in the third period the Bucks put together an 8-0 run to pull within five points.
Trailing 73-65 going into the final period, the Bucks trimmed the deficit to four multiple times, but the Heat’s depth finally proved too much.
"Obviously they missed their MVP,” Butler said. "But we knew we were going to have to get one out of the mud and I think this was the one.” Antetokounmpo said he felt "lost” as he was unable to contribute.
"Mentally it was a battle, but at the end of the day you’ve got to trust your teammates and that’s what I decided to do,” he said after the Bucks medical staff persuaded him not to risk further injury by playing.