Khris Middleton starred on Sunday as the Milwaukee Bucks, their backs against the wall and star Giannis Antetokounmpo injured, beat the Miami Heat 118-115 in overtime to stay alive in the NBA playoffs.
With reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo ruled out after aggravating his sprained ankle in the first half, Middleton stepped up to score 36 points — including nine of the Bucks’ 11 in overtime.
A Middleton three-pointer put Milwaukee up 116-112 with 6.9 seconds left in the extra session.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Miami rookie Tyler Herro drained a three-pointer to close the gap, before Middleton made two free throws to seal the win.
Milwaukee, the Eastern Conference top seeds after posting the league’s best regular-season record, trimmed the deficit in the best-of-seven semi-final to 3-1.
In the Western Conference, Anthony Davis scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while LeBron James added 28 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 117-109 to level their series at 1-1.
Milwaukee still have a mountain to climb as they try to become the first NBA team to rally from 0-3 to win a series.
“We all fought,” said Middleton, who led six Bucks players who scored in double figures in the must-win game. “Especially with Giannis going down the way he did. He came out and tried to fight for us with a bad ankle. We wanted to have his back, and just fight for him and fight for everybody.”
Antetokounmpo had rolled his right ankle in Game 3, and twisted it again and went down hard in the second quarter.
He stayed in the game and shot two free throws, making one, before limping to the locker room, clearly emotional as he was assisted by team personnel.
“Giannis put it all out there for us,” said Milwaukee’s Eric Bledsoe, who scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. “We wanted to come out and get this win by taking it one play, one possession at a time.”
Heat forward Jimmy Butler said Antetokounmpo’s exit affected Miami, too.
“I think that we relaxed a little bit,” said Butler, who scored 17 points.
It was not clear if Antetokounmpo would be available when the Bucks again try to fend off elimination in Game 5 today.
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