Heat go up 2-0 on Hawks • Grizzlies, Pelicans rebound
J immy Butler scored a careerplayoff-high 45 points, including seven over a critical stretch in the fourth quarter, and the Miami Heat beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 115-105 on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in an Eastern Conference first-round series.
Top-seeded Miami built a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter before eighth-seeded Atlanta battled back on the strength of Bogdan Bogdanovic’s playoff career-best 29 points, 19 of which he scored in the final period.
Bogdanovic connected on a three-pointer with 3:15 remaining that pulled the Hawks to within 104-101. Then Butler took over. Butler dribbled through the Atlanta defense on the ensuing possession to throw down a dunk. Following a Bogdanovic missed three-point attempt, Butler scored falling away from beyond the arc.
He completed the decisive, 7-0 run attacking the rim for a layup that pushed the Miami lead to 10 points with 1:20 left. Grizzlies 124, T’Wolves 96
Ja Morant had 23 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists as Memphis coasted over visiting Memphis.
Second-seeded Memphis evened the best-of-seven series against seventh-seeded Minnesota at 1-1. The teams will reconvene for Game 3 on Thursday in Minneapolis.
Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 16 points apiece for Memphis, which shot 47.8 percent (44-of-92) from the field. Brandon Clarke, Xavier Tillman and Ziaire Williams contributed 13 points apiece off the bench.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 20 points. Karl-Anthony
Towns registered 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who shot 39.5 percent (30-of-76) from the field.
Pelicans 125, Suns 114
Brandon Ingram recorded 37 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and New Orleans evened their first-round playoff series against top-seeded Phoenix.
CJ McCollum made six threes and had 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the eighth-seeded Pelicans outplayed the powerful Suns.
Phoenix star Devin Booker scored 31 points but departed in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. Mikal Bridges tallied 19 points, and Chris Paul added 17 points and 14 assists but shot just 5-for-16 from the field.
Nets’ Simmons cleared for
contact, not back yet Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash said Tuesday that Ben Simmons was cleared for contact, a notable step toward his debut with the team.
Nash also said Simmons participated in a 4-on-4 drill without issue.
Simmons was officially ruled out for Game 2 of the Nets’ firstround playoff series against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Nash would not go as far as to rule the guard out for Saturday’s Game 3.
The former Philadelphia 76ers star, acquired in a blockbuster trade in February that sent James Harden to the Sixers, has yet to play a game in a Nets uniform due to a back injury and a lengthy reconditioning phase to return to game shape. Simmons forced his way out of Philadelphia over a fractured relationship with 76ers coach Doc Rivers and teammate Joel Embiid.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and the 2017/18 NBA Rookie of the Year, Simmons averaged 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists in 275 games (all starts) with Philadelphia. (Reuters)