MIAMI: The Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks stepped it up, bouncing back from opening upsets with convincing victories in the NBA playoffs.
LeBron James and the Lakers, seeded first in the Western Conference, thumped the Portland Trail Blazers 111-88 to even their best-of-seven series at one game apiece.
The Bucks came back from a humbling loss to beat the Orlando Magic 111-96.
Anthony Davis, who struggled through an eight-of-24 shooting night in the Lakers’ game one loss to Portland, led Los Angeles with 31 points on 13 of 21 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds in 29 minutes.
He’s the first Laker since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to score more than 30 points in a playoff game in less than 30 minutes of action.
“He was just aggressive from the beginning of the game,” James said of Davis. “He wasn’t passive at all, looked for his shots. He did a great job of rebounding as well, got some put-backs.”
James scored just 10 points, but his quiet night was no problem for a Lakers team that closed the first half on a 12-2 scoring run for a 17-point halftime lead.
“We knew we had to not have as many defensive lapses,” James said.
“When you have a defensive strategy you have to execute that strategy for 48 minutes and I think we did a great job of that tonight,” he added after the Lakers held the Blazers to 40 percent shooting overall and just 27.6 percent from three-point range.
The Lakers led by 30 — 88-58 — going into the fourth quarter, when Portland suddenly found themselves without star Damian Lillard.
Lillard exited with less than two minutes remaining in the third after dislocating his left index finger — apparently when he banged his hand against Davis’s foot while reaching for the ball.
Lillard, who torched the Lakers for 34 points in game one finished with 18.
The Blazers said X-rays on Lillard’s hand were negative, but any lingering problem for the player who powered Portland to a playoff berth — averaging 37.6 points and 9.6 assists in eight seeding games in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida — will be a severe blow to the Trail Blazers’ bid to topple the Lakers.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 16 points for the Lakers, JR Smith added 11 off the bench and center JaVale McGee chipped in 10.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 28 points and 20 rebounds as the Bucks brought the defensive intensity that carried them to the league’s best regular-season record.
“Our whole mindset this game was to come out, play hard, play together and as long as we got stops we were going to figure it out on offense,” Antetokounmpo said.
“I think the team did a great job first quarter, setting the tone. Coming out hard, playing hard, rebounding the ball and just making the right play.”
Brook Lopez scored 20 points and Pat Connaughton chipped in 15 for the Bucks, who led by as many as 23 in the first half.
Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic followed up his 35-point game one performance with 32 points.
But Milwaukee held the Magic without a point in the paint for the whole of the first quarter and out-rebounded Orlando 57-42.
“The effort was definitely an ‘A,’” Lopez said. “Game one they came in and they out-worked us, that’s not something we can allow.”
Top seeds back on terms as Lakers, Bucks bounce back
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Top seeds back on terms as Lakers, Bucks bounce back
- Brook Lopez scored 20 points and Pat Connaughton chipped in 15 for the Bucks, who led by as many as 23 in the first half
Canada’s Lee sets pace, Kim in the hunt for LIV Golf wild card spots
- LIV Golf Promotions in Florida offers top 3 finishers a chance to play in 2026 regular season
LECANTO: Canada’s Richard T. Lee has proved the player to watch during the first three days at LIV Golf Promotions and is now well-placed for a wild-card spot in the 2026 LIV Golf season.
Anthony Kim, meanwhile, found another gear on the back nine on Saturday, putting him in a better position to return to full-time status in the league.
The final 18 holes of the 36-hole shootout at Black Diamond Ranch take place on Sunday with a potentially career-changing reward for the top three finishers — guaranteed LIV Golf wild-card status for 2026. In addition, the top 10 and ties earn exemptions into the Asian Tour’s International Series.
For the second time this week, Lee led the field with a bogey-free 6-under 64. The 35-year-old will take a two-shot lead over his closest pursuers going into Sunday, giving him a significant advantage. However, he does not plan to take his foot off the gas.
“Honestly, I don’t think it would be comfortable for any player to have a two-shot lead on the last day,” said Lee, who has two eagles, 13 birdies and just one bogey in his 54 competitive holes this week. “I’ll just put my hat on and just play my golf.”
Kim is among three players who are tied for second after shooting a bogey-free 4-under 66, along with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard is solo fifth after his 3-under 67, with five other players lurking at 1 under.
Kim, who played as a wild card in the past two seasons following his return to competitive golf after a 12-year retirement, was just 1 under through 12 holes on Saturday. But he made consecutive lengthy birdie putts at the 13th and 14th holes, birdied the par-5 16th, then saved par with a 15-footer at the par-4 18th that circled the cup before dropping.
“I have an opportunity to get one of those spots,” said the 40-year-old, the only American to advance to the weekend. “That’s what I asked for coming into this week and put myself in a good position. Now I’ve just got to go finish.”
Kim would not be in this position had he not made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th on Friday to make the cut on the number.
“I knew that if I didn’t make birdie on 18 [Friday] that my chances of playing on LIV next year were gone, and to me that’s a big deal,” Kim said. “I’d like to play at the highest level against the best players. It meant a lot to me.”
Bekker was part of LIV Golf’s inaugural field at the 2022 London tournament. Four seasons later, he’s excited about the opportunity to return to the league as a full-time member.
“Thinking back on it now, I had the opportunity to play a few more events, and now I’m like, well, maybe I should have played them,” he said. “The water was a bit rough at that stage and didn’t know what was going to happen, so I played it a bit safe. Luckily, I’ve been given another opportunity this week, and hopefully I can take it.”
Janewattananond won four tournaments in 2019 when he became a top 50 world player and, aged 30, still has years left in his competitive career. After shooting a second-round 67 to advance to the weekend, he shot a 66 on Saturday that included four birdies in a six-hole stretch to end his front nine.
“It’s a very big prize at the end of the day,” he said. “Those three spots up for grabs, it would give me freedom to play wherever I want and security for my family.”
The 34-year-old Bjerregaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, said earning full-time LIV Golf status would be career-changing.
“Where I am in my career right now, it’s probably that or retirement,” he said. “Yeah, that would mean a lot for sure.”
Although nothing is guaranteed, Lee has played so well this week that there may be just two spots available for the remainder of the field.
“We’re not playing for one spot,” said Janewattananond. “I don’t have to worry about him. I just have to worry about myself.”
“He played great today,” added Bjerregaard, playing in the same group as Lee on Saturday. “But I would be happy with any of the other two spots, so that’s fine. I can finish third. I wouldn’t mind.”
