Anthony Davis scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Thursday, and the Los Angeles Lakers played to their credentials as the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs, earning a 111-88 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 of their first-round series near Orlando.
LeBron James added a modest 10 points with six rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes as the Lakers rebounded from a 100-93 defeat to the eighth-seeded Blazers in Game 1. It was his lowest point total in a playoff game since he had seven points for the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
The Lakers earned their first victory in the playoffs since Game 3 of the 2012 Western Conference semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Blazers guard Damian Lillard was held to 18 points while CJ McCollum added 13. Portland was limited to 40 percent shooting from the field and 27.6 percent (8 of 29) from 3-point range.
Milwaukee Bucks 111 – Orlando Magic 96
Top-seeded Milwaukee held eighth-seeded Orlando to three first-quarter field goals en route to a double-digit lead, then rode Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 28 points and game-high 20 rebounds to even their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series at one game apiece.
Nikola Vucevic went for a game-high 32 points, but no other member of the Magic topped 12 as Milwaukee avenged a poor defensive effort in a 122-110 loss in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Brook Lopez chipped in with 20 points, while Pat Connaughton added 15, Eric Bledsoe had 13 to complement a game-high seven assists and Donte DiVincenzo 11 for the Bucks, who outshot the Magic 47.2 percent to 34.8 percent.
Miami Heat 109 – Indiana Pacers 100
Duncan Robinson tied a franchise postseason record with seven 3-pointers in just his second career playoff game, helping Miami take a 2-0 lead in its first-round Eastern Conference series against Indiana.
Robinson finished with a game-high 24 points, Goran Dragic added 20 and Jimmy Butler had 18 in a balanced attack that allowed the fifth-seeded Heat to successfully follow up on their 113-101 triumph in the series opener. The Heat never trailed in the second half.
Victor Oladipo, playing two days after suffering an eye injury that required brief hospitalization, led the fourth-seeded Pacers with 22 points. Myles Turner and Malcom Brogdon added 17 apiece.
Houston Rockets 111 – Oklahoma City Thunder 98
James Harden had 21 points and nine assists to power Houston past Oklahoma City for a 2-0 series lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Houston, which hit 19 3-pointers and had seven players in double figure, scored 17 straight points in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to win again without Russell Westbrook.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 31 points. Chris Paul shot just 6 of 15 from the floor and scored 14 points.
–Field Level Media
