LILLARD LEADS BUCKS VS PACERS

WASHINGTON: Damian Lillard scored all 35 of his points in the first half as the Milwaukee Bucks struck early in a 109-94 victory over Indiana in their NBA playoffs opener despite the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks followed the blueprint laid out earlier Sunday (Monday in Manila) by the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics, who both got off to strong starts in convincing game-one victories.

Eastern Conference top seeds Boston raced to a 14-0 lead to set the tone for a 114-94 victory over the Miami Heat in the first game of their best-of-seven series.

The Clippers, with Kawhi Leonard sidelined with knee inflammation, led wire-to-wire in a 109-07 victory over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, who put up just eight points in a shocking second quarter performance.

James Harden scored 28 points and handed out eight assists for the Clippers, drilling six of their 18 three-pointers.

Paul George added 22 points and Ivica Zubac scored 20 points with 15 rebounds for Los Angeles, who seized control early as Dallas and NBA regular-season scoring leader Doncic struggled.

The Mavs connected on just two of 21 attempts in the second quarter, putting up 30 in the first half to trail by 26 at the break.

Eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving made all eight of his attempts on the way to 20 points in the third quarter as the Mavericks buckled down.

Doncic would finish with 33 points and 13 rebounds and Irving scored 31, but they were in too deep of a hole to escape.

2024-04-23T02:53:47Z dg43tfdfdgfd