Paul helps Suns overcome Booker’s absence to beat Pelicans to lead 2-1 in series | CBC Sports

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Chris Paul scored 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, and the Phoenix Suns overcame Devin Booker’s absence to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 114-111 on Friday night in Game 3 of their first-round series.

Deandre Ayton added 28 points and 17 rebounds to help the Suns take a 2-1 series lead. Paul scored 15 of Phoenix’s first 23 points in the fourth quarter. He also had 14 assists.

Booker strained his right hamstring Tuesday night after scoring 31 points in the first half in a 125-114 home loss. He sat on the bench during Game 3.

Mikal Bridges had 17 points for the Suns. Backup center JaVale McGee scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting as the Suns hurt the Pelicans inside.

Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 34 points. CJ McCollum was 30.

Game 4 is Sunday night in New Orleans.

The Hawks beat the Heat

Trae Young hit a floater down the lane with 4.4 seconds left and the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to beat top-seeded Miami, cutting the visiting Heat’s series lead to 2-1.

Jimmy Butler missed a jumper with 12.6 seconds left that could have given the Heat a three-point cushion. He missed again on a lopsided 3-pointer at the buzzer with De’Andre Hunter in the face to give the Hawks a burst of hope in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday night in Atlanta.

PJ Tucker led a 21-0 run in the third quarter that took the Heat to an 84-68 lead and seemingly under cruise control to a 3-0 lead. But Young and the Hawks wouldn’t let them get away.

The Heat were also dealing with an injury to point guard Kyle Lowry, who left in the third quarter with a hamstring problem and did not return. He will undergo tests on Saturday to determine the severity of the injury.

Young finished with 24 points despite another strong defensive effort from the Heat. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18, Hunter 17 and three others scored in double figures to take some pressure off the star guard.

Coming off a 45-point effort in Game 3, Butler was limited to 20 in this one and missed a golden opportunity to give Miami a stranglehold on the series. Tyler Herro led the Heat with 24 points and Max Strus also had 20.

The start was delayed about 45 minutes after a suspicious package was found outside State Farm Arena before the game.

The Bucks beat the Bulls

Grayson Allen made five 3-pointers and scored 22 points as the Milwaukee Bucks dominated the Chicago Bulls to take a 2-1 series lead without the injured Khris Middleton.

Giannis Antetokounmpo added 18 points, Bobby Portis had 18 points and 16 rebounds and the defending champion Bucks made it look easy after two shaky performances at home.

Middleton is expected to miss the remainder of the series after spraining his left knee Wednesday night in a loss. Game four is Sunday in Chicago.

Antetokounmpo scored all but two of his points after the first quarter. The two-time MVP finished with nine assists and seven rebounds.

Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 19 points.




Reference-www.cbc.ca

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