MIAMI: The Miami Heat punched their ticket to the NBA Eastern Conference finals Tuesday, beating top-seeded Milwaukee 103-94 as injured Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo watched from the bench.
Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic scored 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.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo — tipped to scoop a second straight MVP 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.
Heat oust depleted Bucks to reach NBA East finals
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Heat oust depleted Bucks to reach NBA East finals
- The fifth-seeded Heat will face either the Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors for a place in the NBA Finals
Rampant Sabalenka sweeps past Jovic into Australian Open semifinals
MELBOURNE: Relentless top seed Aryna Sabalenka muscled past American teenager Iva Jovic and into the Australian Open semifinals Tuesday to accelerate her bid for a third Melbourne title.
The Belarusian powered home 6-3, 6-0 in blazing heat to set up a clash with either third seed Coco Gauff or 12th seed Elina Svitolina.
It booked the 27-year-old a 14th career Grand Slam semifinal and fourth in a row at the season-opening major.
Sabalenka has won twice in Melbourne, in 2023 and 2024, and seemed destined for another crown last year but was upset in the final by Madison Keys.
Keys’ title defense is over, beaten in the fourth round by Jessica Pegula.
“These teenagers have been testing me in the last couple of rounds,” said Sabalenka, who is on a 10-match win streak after victory at the lead-up Brisbane International.
“It was a tough match. Don’t look at the score, it wasn’t easy at all. She played incredible tennis. Pushed me to to one step better level. And I’m super happy with the win.”
The match was played under an open roof on Rod Laver Arena with the tournament Heat Stress Scale yet to reach the level where it could be closed.
Temperatures are forecast to hit a blistering 45C with a peak of 38C reached during the match.
Defeat brought an end to a breakthrough tournament for 18-year-old Jovic, the youngest player in the women’s top 100 and seeded 29.
She stunned seventh seed and two-time Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini and blitzed past experienced Yulia Putintseva for the loss of just one game to announce herself to the world.
But Sabalenka was a bridge too far.
The world number one safely held serve to lay down a marker, blasting an ace to set up game point and an unreturnable serve to win it.
Jovic made some early errors and sent the ball long on break point to surrender her serve and fall 2-0 behind.
Sabalenka held to pile on the pressure before Jovic fended off a break point on her next serve to get on the scoreboard.
But despite some long rallies as she got into the match and three break points as Sabalenka served for the set, the top seed’s brute force proved too much.
Sabalenka then broke her immediately to assert control of set two and Jovic was spent, with another break for 3-0 then a double fault to slump 5-0 down, signalling the end.
