4/22/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday
22 April 2024 Sports
Damian Lillard’s sensational start ensured the Milwaukee Bucks would fare just fine without Giannis Antetokounmpo in their playoff opener.
Lillard scored all 35 of his points before halftime and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Indiana Pacers 109-94 on Sunday while Antetokounmpo watched from the bench.
The Bucks needed Lillard to step up without Antetokounmpo, whose return date is uncertain as he deals with a strained left calf that also caused him to miss Milwaukee’s final three regular-season games. Game 2 of the playoff series is Tuesday in Milwaukee.
Lillard came through by setting a Bucks record for points in either half of a playoff game. He didn’t score at all and attempted only five shots in the second half as the Pacers focused on slowing him down, but the damage was done by that point.
This was Lillard’s first postseason game since 2021. He spent his first 11 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers before the Bucks acquired him in a trade.
Pascal Siakam had 36 points and 13 rebounds for the Pacers, who hadn’t scored fewer than 99 points in the regular season while averaging a league-high 123.3 points per game. The Pacers shot 8 of 39 from 3-point range. Former Oshkosh North star Tyrese Haliburton, who averaged over 20 points in the regular season, was held to just 9.
Indiana, which had won four of its five regular-season meetings with the Bucks, is making its first playoff appearance since 2020. The Pacers haven’t advanced beyond the opening round since 2014.
Khris Middleton had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, while Bobby Portis added 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Lillard had 19 points in the opening period, the highest first-quarter point total by any player in a playoff opener since at least 1997. He had the highest first-half point total for any player in a postseason contest since Kevin Durant had 38 at the break for the Golden State Warriors in a 2019 first-round game with the Los Angeles Clippers.
He then got some help from his teammates while taking a well-deserved breather. Milwaukee outscored Indiana 14-3 while Lillard was on the bench for nearly the first five minutes of the second quarter.
Once Lillard returned, he picked up right where he’d left off. He sank a 3-pointer while getting fouled and completed a four-point play to extend Milwaukee’s lead to 65-35. The Bucks were ahead 69-42 at halftime.
Indiana closed the third quarter with nine straight points to get Milwaukee’s lead down to 83-71, but the Bucks regained control.
Jae Crowder and Malik Beasley made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to start an 8-0 run that extended Milwaukee’s lead to 99-77 with 8:10 left. Milwaukee stayed ahead by at least 14 the rest of the way.
In other NBA playoff games Sunday, Boston beat Miami 113-94, the Clippers over the Mavericks 113-97 and Oklahoma City edged New Orleans 94-92.
Owen Miller broke a scoreless tie with a two-run single and Colin Rea tossed five shutout innings to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 2-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Milwaukee has won four in a row and swept a three-game series in St. Louis for the first time since Sept. 24-26, 2018.
Sonny Gray stuck out 12 batters over 6 1/3 innings for the Cardinals, who have lost four in a row.
Rea gave up five hits over five-plus innings and left after walking Paul Goldschmidt to begin the sixth.
Miller, who was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday, hit a two-run single in the seventh after Blake Perkins and Brice Turang singled with one out. Miller snapped an eight-game hitless string dating back to last season.
Gray, who signed as a free agent on Nov. 27, allowed five hits and gave up his first two runs of the season. Gray (2-1) struck out 20 batters before giving up his first walk of the season to Joey Ortiz in the fifth.
Reliever Bryan Hudson, who grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Alton, Illinois, retired all seven batters he faced following Rea. Hudson struck out four and picked up his first career win. The left-hander gave out 70 tickets among family and friends. He spent his childhood attending Cardinals games and even played at Busch Stadium while in high school.
Closer Joel Payamps picked up his third save in five opportunities.
Perkins turned in the defensive play of the game by reaching over the fence in center to rob Lars Nootbaar of a home run in the first.
St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games with a first-inning single. It is the longest current run in the major and is second this season behind Marcell Ozuna of Atlanta, who had a 17-game streak snapped Saturday.
The Cardinals have dropped eight of their last nine to their NL Central rivals.
The Brewers improved to a major-league best 9-2 in day games this season. They are 10-2 on the road.
The Brewers continue their road trip later today in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. The Brewers send right-hander Joe Ross (1-1, 4.91 ERA) against Pittsburgh righty Jared Jones (1-2, 3.13 ERA). First pitch is 5:40.
Elsewhere in the NL Central Sunday the Red Sox beat the Pirates 6-1, the Reds shutout the Angels 3-0 and the Marlins downed the Cubs 6-3. The Brewers lead the Cubs by 2 games in the division, the Reds are 2 ½ games behind, the Pirates are 4 games back and the Cardinals are 6 games out.
In the Midwest League Sunday the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers shutout the Cedar Rapids Kernels 2-0, at Fox Cities Stadium.
On the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage, the final round was completed this morning after a rain delay yesterday and then darkness, Scottie Scheffler won his third straight tournament and fourth in his last five. He finished -19 under and 3 strokes ahead of Sahith Theegala. Will Clark and Patrick Cantlay finished 4 strokes behind the leader.
Tyler Reddick prevailed in a typically frantic Talladega Superspeedway run to the checkered flag Sunday in the GEICO 500 NASCAR Cup Series race, narrowly avoiding a multi-car crash in the closing 400 yards and coming from third place out of Turn 4 to earn the win by 0.208 seconds when race leader Michael McDowell crashed trying to block competitors approaching the finish line. Reddick maneuvered around in the high lane to motor through to his first victory of the year and sixth of his career.
Brad Keselowski finished second, Noah Gragson finished a career-best third, followed by JTG Daugherty’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman.
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