NBA Playoffs: Bucks beat Celtics, Blazers edge Nuggets

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA (AA) - The Milwaukee Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers each grabbed huge wins in NBA playoffs on Friday night to take 2-1 series leads.

In the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Bucks defeated the Boston Celtics in TD Garden to grab home-court advantage with a 123-116 win behind Giannis Antetokounmpo's 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists.

The Bucks picked up the pace in the third quarter to build a 10-point lead and never looked back as they are now up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

- Blazers edge Nuggets at home in historic 4OT win

The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Denver Nuggets 140-137 after 4 overtime periods at home to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference semi-finals.

The 4 overtime periods in a playoff game happened only once before, in 1953, prior to Friday's match.

Both teams did not quit and closed the lead gaps and managed to extend the match to 4 overtime periods.

While the Blazers were up 138-136, Nuggets' All-Star big man Nikola Jokic missed one free-throw to tie the game, leading to a Blazers win.

CJ McCollum was the hot hand for the Blazers, he finished with 41 points. Damian Lillard also scored 28 points in the win, while Rodney hood scored 19 off the bench, especially carrying his team in the 4th overtime period.

Jokic's absurd stat line of 33 points 18 rebounds and 14 assists in 65 minutes of action were not enough for the Nuggets to secure a win.

Here is the latest situation in the NBA Playoffs:

Eastern Conference:

(1) Milwaukee Bucks 2-1 Boston Celtics (4)

(2) Toronto Raptors 1-2 Philadelphia 76ers (3)

Western Conference:

(1) Golden State Warriors 2-0 Houston Rockets (4)

(2) Denver Nuggets 1-2 Portland Trail Blazers (3)