Heat can’t take advantage of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence, fail to sweep Bucks

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Giannis Antetokounmpo was waiting in the locker room for his teammates Sunday, standing on his injured right ankle to greet every one of them.

His day ended early, but his season isn’t over yet.

Khris Middleton scored 36 points, including a big 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left in overtime, and the Milwaukee Bucks avoided a sweep by beating the Miami Heat 118-115 in overtime of Game 4 of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Heat lead 3-1, but the Bucks are alive after Antetokounmpo left in the second quarter having aggravated his sprained right ankle.

“Khris is very unique,” Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He wanted to play. He asked to stay in the game.”

Middleton’s season high before Sunday was 40 minutes; he had 48 in Game 4.

“Just keep fighting,” said Middleton, who also had eight rebounds and eight assists. “That’s all my teammates did.”

Bam Adebayo had 26 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Miami, which can eliminate the Bucks in Game 5 on Tuesday.

Lakers 117, Rockets 109: LeBron James had 28 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, Anthony Davis added 34 points and 10 rebounds and Los Angeles evened the Western Conference semifinal series 1-1 by beating Houston.

The Lakers opened a 21-point lead in the first half, gave up 41 points in the third quarter to fall behind, then regrouped to take control again.

James Harden scored 27 points and Eric Gordon made six 3-pointers and added 24 for the Rockets, who made 22 3-pointers. Russell Westbrook finished 4-for-15 with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Game 3 is Tuesday.

The Lakers also dropped their opener against Portland in the first round but won the next four games.