NBA: Bucks roll past Heat; Nikola Jokic scores 38 points, Nuggets beat Blazers

Bryn Forbes made six 3-pointers on his way to 22 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks routed the Miami Heat 132-98 on Monday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. The 27-year-old Forbes spent his first four seasons with San Antonio, but he signed with Milwaukee in free agency in November. “That was a huge part in me coming here,” Forbes said. “You know that there would be these opportunities and we would be in the playoffs. … It’s just great to be in this position, be in the playoffs again and have an opportunity and stage.” Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Bucks, who were eliminated by the Heat in the second round of last year’s playoffs. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday in Miami. Milwaukee shot 22 of 53 from 3-point range — including 15 of 29 in the first half — and never trailed while leading by as many as 36 points. The Bucks’ 22 3-pointers were their highest total ever in a playoff game.

😤 31 PTS, 13 REB for @Giannis_An34 to put the @Bucks up 2-0! #NBAPlayoffs

Game 3 - Thursday, 7:30pm/et, TNT pic.twitter.com/HagN3jvOR2

— NBA (@NBA) May 25, 2021

Milwaukee’s two victories in this series couldn’t have looked more different. The Bucks needed Khris Middleton’s tiebreaking jumper with 0.5 seconds left in overtime to pull out a 109-107 victory in Game 1. Milwaukee essentially put away Game 2 in the first quarter when its 3-point attack went from fizzling to sizzling. “They made a lot of shots, but we didn’t make anything difficult on them or take anything away,” said Miami’s Jimmy Butler, who scored 10 points. Milwaukee shot 5 of 31 from behind the arc and made its fewest 3-pointers of the season Saturday. The Bucks were 10 of 15 on 3-point attempts in the first quarter alone Monday. The Bucks led 46-20 at the end of the opening period and 78-51 at the break, posting the highest first-half point total in their playoff history. “It’s just how the game goes," Forbes said. “It’s ebbs and flows. Some games you’re open a lot more. Some games you aren’t. Tonight I think we moved the ball great and had a lot of open shots.” Nuggets bounce back [caption id=“attachment_9653071” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Nikola Jokic scored 38 points, had eight rebounds and five assists. AP[/caption] Nikola Jokic scored 38 points to overcome a 3-point shooting barrage from Damian Lillard and the Denver Nuggets evened the first-round series by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 128-109 in a chippy Game 2. Jokic also had eight rebounds and five assists, which was four more than he had in Game 1 when the Blazers made sure the big man didn’t beat him with his pinpoint passing. The Nuggets had few answers for Lillard early on as the dynamic playmaker scored 32 of his 42 points in the first half. His eight 3-pointers before intermission tied an NBA playoff record for most in a half. Lillard finished 9 of 16 from 3-point range. Game 3 will be Thursday in Portland. It was a physical affair, with four technical fouls being issued (three on Denver, including one on Jokic) and two flagrant-1 calls (CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony).

The Joker (38 PTS) balled out to help Denver even up the series 🃏 https://t.co/GOzpGl17AO

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 25, 2021

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Up by 20 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Nuggets withstood a mini-rally from Portland before Facundo Campazzo sealed the win with a 3-pointer. Monte Morris also had a big block on Lillard. Michael Porter Jr. found his rhythm and finished with 18 points. He was 3-of-6 from 3-point range after going 1-of-10 from long distance in Game 1. The usually sure-handed Blazers committed 20 turnovers. They also were outscored 54-32 in the paint. While Lillard lit it up — and McCollum added 21 — the Nuggets kept Anthony and Anfernee Simons in check. They hurt the Nuggets coming off the bench in the series opener.