NBA: Heat get wire-to-wire win, advance to semis at Bucks' expense

The Miami Heat led from start to finish, with LeBron James dominating in the fourth quarter, to oust the Milwaukee Bucks from the NBA playoffs, via an 88-77 Heat win, Sunday (Monday, PHL time) at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee. It was a sweet sweep for the league's top-ranked team and the reigning NBA champions, as they won their previous three games in the series 110-87, 98-86, and 104-91, never looking like they were in any trouble. In this one, Miami jumped out to a 10-5 lead, and were up by as much as 11 twice in the second quarter, before the home team Bucks endeavored to keep their deficit under 10 points. The third quarter ended with a little duel between Milwaukee's Monta Ellis and the Heat's LeBron James, with James scoring his side's final nine points, and Ellis answering with eight, plus an assist to Ekpe Udoh for a dunk, that made the tally 67-62 in favor of the visitors with a quarter left to play. A Mike Dunleavy Jr. triple and another Monta Ellis score allowed Milwaukee to get within two points, 69-67, with 9:34 left in the fourth period, stoking the possibility of a comeback. James however, had other things in mind. Last season's MVP went on a tear, finding three teammates for four three-points in a four-minute span, while adding a lay-up for good measure, restoring Miami's double-digit lead in the process, 83-72, 5:54 remaining in the game. Two more scores from him, an and-one play and a lay-up, then clinched things, 88-72 with just 2:41 left to play. The Bucks scored the game's final five points, but it was far from enough, as the eighth-seeded team faced the broom and were swept out of the postseason. James finished with 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block, in another masterful performance. Ray Allen added 16 points, 12 from three-pointers, plus seven rebounds, Udonis Haslem scored 13 markers, and Chris Bosh posted 10 points, five boards and four swats. The Heat won despite not having Dwyane Wade available, as the shooting guard sat out due to a bruised right knee. Monta Ellis led the way for Milwaukee with 21 points on 50 percent shooting, plus five rebounds and eight assists. He also notched a team-high six turnovers however. Mike Dunleavy Jr. added 17 in reserve, while JJ Redick was the only other Buck to finish with double-digit scoring, pumping in 10. Point guard Brandon Jennings had a miserable outing, going 1-of-7 from the floor for just three points. Miami's suffocating defense held their foes to just 37.0 percent shooting, 27.3 percent from downtown. - AMD, GMA News