Miami Heat remain ice cold now in 0-3 series hole to Milwaukee Bucks Seven months after advancing to

Seven months after advancing to the 2020 NBA finals, the Miami Heat are one loss away from elimination in this year's playoffs after a resounding 113-84 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night in Miami.

For the second consecutive game, the Bucks led from the opening minutes until the final buzzer, building leads of more than 30 points. It's a complete reversal from when these teams met in last season's Eastern Conference semifinals, when the Heat bludgeoned the top-seeded Bucks in a 4-1 series victory.

"[I'm most surprised by] just how fast it got out of hand," Heat wingman Jimmy Butler said. "We've got to pick who we want to be -- be physical, make things much tougher. Then you've got to live with the result."

The Heat's offensive production this series has been anemic. Their 93.2 points per 100 possessions through three games would be the lowest total for a playoff team since the battered 2015-16 Memphis Grizzlies, without Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, posted an 89.3 offensive rating while being swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

"The rhythm is off," Heat point guard Goran Dragic said. "It's way off. We lose our confidence. We still have one game left."

From the outset of the series, the Bucks' defense has bottled up the Heat, yielding lower-percentage, midrange shots while focusing their effort on the interior. The Bucks' length, particularly Giannis Antetokounmpo and center Brook Lopez, has limited Miami's penetration. Heat big man Bam Adebayo is averaging only 0.74 points per play when guarded by Lopez. Overall, the Heat were only 2-for-8 in the paint on Thursday when Lopez was the primary rim protector, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Butler, who shined when the Heat ousted the Bucks last season, has struggled to find opportunities. When he has, he has struggled to convert. His true shooting percentage for the series is a scant 40.4. Among the Heat's rotation players, only Trevor Ariza has posted a lower mark. Overall in the series, Butler is averaging 15.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and six assists per game.

Antetokounmpo claimed the assignment of covering Butler defensively for the series, a matchup the Bucks opted against in last season's series. In keeping with the Bucks' blueprint, Antetokounmpo has strategically offered Butler a modicum of space to shoot jumpers, while cutting off driving lanes.

"We set the tone early in the game," Antetokounmpo said. "We knew how important this game was. We came out. We were keeping guys in front. We were rebounding the ball. We set the tone defensively."

To bolster their prospects in the playoffs, where they've been disappointed in the ultimate outcome each of the past two years, the Bucks acquired point guard Jrue Holiday during the offseason. Holiday has delivered on expectations in his first series with the team, averaging 16.7 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

"Jrue's the most underrated player in the NBA by far," Milwaukee big man P.J. Tucker said. "People don't understand how good he is. I didn't understand how good he is until I played with him. He gets it, and he is the quietest dog to ever play with in your life."

The unassuming Holiday has stabilized and organized a Bucks offense whose flow could get gummy during previous playoff runs. Milwaukee has rung up a sizzling effective field goal percentage of 87.5% off passes from Holiday, and those passes have led to 27 uncontested field goal attempts for his teammates. Holiday has scored or assisted on 127 points over the three games, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

The outcome on Tuesday night wasn't entirely positive for Milwaukee. Bucks starting shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo exited in the second quarter with a left foot contusion and did not return. DiVincenzo will be re-evaluated by Bucks medical staff on Friday morning.

On Saturday in Miami, the Heat will try to stave off elimination and begin the journey no NBA team has ever made successfully -- bouncing back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series.

"We've got to figure out ways to be better tomorrow," Butler said. "You're not too worried about what history says, and all of that good stuff. But we've got our work cut out for us."

✨ Milwaukee Bucks lose starter Donte DiVincenzo for playoffs due to foot injury, sources say
Milwaukee Bucks starting guard Donte DiVincenzo will miss the rest of the playoffs with a tendon injury in his left foot, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

DiVincenzo left Thursday's 113-84 win over the Miami Heat in the second quarter due to the injury.

The 24-year-old had started 66 games for the Bucks during the regular season -- averaging 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists -- and all three playoff games.

The Bucks, who hold a 3-0 series lead over the Heat, will look to close out the first-round series Saturday.

✨ Kentucky freshman Isaiah Jackson, ESPN's No. 11 prospect, to keep name in NBA draft
Projected lottery pick Isaiah Jackson has elected to hire an agent, forgo his remaining eligibility at Kentucky and keep his name in the 2021 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Friday.

"I feel like I'm ready," Jackson told ESPN. "All the feedback from teams has been good. People are saying lottery, which is what I wanted. That's one of the main reasons I'm declaring, so my agent can get involved and speak on my behalf in terms of negotiating and making sure he can get me to the right team."

Jackson, the No. 11 prospect in the ESPN 100, was named to the SEC's All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams after averaging 8.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 21 minutes for Kentucky, shooting 55% from the field.

"This is going to be a big burden off my shoulders," he said. "That's all anyone wants to know. A lot of Kentucky fans are telling me to stay every day. I just want to be able to do what I want instead of being restricted. I want to do camps and autograph signings to get some money in my pocket. In order to set that up I need to be fully declared."

Jackson is considered one of the most explosive athletes in the 2021 NBA draft, leading the SEC in blocked shots. His 12.7 shot-block percentage rivaled the output of Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel in their time at Kentucky, while he also ranked as one of the best rebounders in this NBA draft class on both ends of the floor.

Jackson also showed impressive progress on the offensive end as the season moved on, being a significant threat as a rim-runner and pick-and-roll finisher thanks to his reliable hands and ability to elevate off the ground quickly for dunks. He draws fouls at a strong rate and converted 70% of his attempts from the free throw line this past season, showing potential facing the basket and either beating opponents off the dribble or knocking down jump shots in the midrange area.

✨ LeBron James, Anthony Davis get tough in Game 3 as Los Angeles Lakers regain their groove
LOS ANGELES -- Playing in their first home playoff game in eight years, the Los Angeles Lakers looked like a true championship contender for the first time in a while.

L.A., the No. 7 seed, won 109-95 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in its first-round matchup against the No. 2-seeded Phoenix Suns, with Anthony Davis (34 points, 11 rebounds) and LeBron James (21 points, nine assists) looking like the dynamic duo that led the Lakers to an NBA title last year.

After right leg injuries to Davis and a right ankle injury for James caused the pair to miss a combined 63 games in the regular season, and the Lakers struggled mightily reintegrating their stars -- once dropping eight out of 10 games from late April through early May -- the team has clearly turned a corner.

The Suns and Lakers tangled horns in the first half of Game 3, with Davis hyperextending his left knee on a chase-down block of Suns star Devin Booker and L.A. taking just a three-point lead into the break. That's when James, who had parked himself on the perimeter for much of the series up to that point, changed his approach.

✨Ja Morant's dad says 3 banned Jazz fans made lewd, racist remarks during Game 2 in Utah
The three fans banned indefinitely by the Utah Jazz made vulgar and racist comments to Ja Morant's parents, the father of the Memphis Grizzlies' star guard told ESPN.

A statement from the Jazz cited one "verbal altercation" that occurred during Utah's 141-129 victory at Vivint Arena on Wednesday night in Game 2 of a first-round playoff series, but Tee Morant said there were three separate incidents with male Jazz fans, adding that each was handled quickly by arena security.

"I know heckling," Tee Morant said in a phone interview with ESPN on Thursday night. "We were doing that the whole game. But that's different than heckling. That's straight up disrespectful. That was too far out of line. You don't say nothing like that heckling. That's beyond heckling."

Ja Morant, in a tweet posted later Thursday, agreed with Utah's decision to ban the fans, writing, "my family should be able [to] cheer for me & my teammates without getting inappropriate s--- said to them."

✨ Brooklyn Nets general manager says Blake Griffin feeling good, dunks no shock
Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks wasn't on social media Tuesday night when his starting power forward Blake Griffin started trending after two thunderous dunks over Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III.

But he wasn't surprised that the former dunk contest champion could still do that.

"He'd be the first to tell you he won't be jumping over a car anytime soon," Marks told ESPN. "But I think it's pretty clear for pretty much anyone just watching him play, he's feeling good.

"I honestly think it's almost, day by day, he keeps getting better and better and better."

When he joined the Nets as a free agent in February, after reaching a buyout agreement with the Detroit Pistons, Griffin hadn't dunked in a game since Dec. 12, 2019. In 28 games since joining the Nets, he has dunked 19 times. But it's not just a change in scenery-- or championship prospects-- that is giving him a lift.

Griffin's manager, Taylor Griffin, told ESPN that his brother had always targeted March in his return from a second arthroscopic knee surgery to fix a torn meniscus, which hampered him in Detroit's run to its first playoff appearance in three years during the 2019 season.

When the NBA decided to move up the start of this season to Christmas. Griffin still had three months of rehabilitation work to do in coming back from his second knee surgery in less than nine months.

"It was definitely a hurried-up schedule," Taylor Griffin said. "And I think we saw that a lot of guys just needed a little bit more time to get all the way back to game shape.

"He had already sat out so much of the previous year, there was no chance he'd sit out [the start of this season]. ... His knee was 100% healthy, but there's a difference in your body being healthy and being ready to play NBA level minutes every night."