The Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping there’s truly no place like home.
The teams that earned home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs risk having their seasons end Wednesday night on their home floors. Of the four games on tap, only Sacramento is guaranteed of playing on among the four Game 5s on tap.
“We’ve just got to go home and win a game,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We’ve talked about it in the locker room. We’ve got to go to Milwaukee and win a game. Life is not complicated. That’s what we’ve got to go do.”
Milwaukee has never rallied from a 3-1 deficit in 10 previous tries. Now the Bucks are trying to avoid becoming the fourth No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs — in a format used since 1984 — to go out in Round 1, joining Chicago (2012), Dallas in 2007 and Seattle in 1994.
The Grizzlies earned the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed by posting the NBA’s best home record since Golden State in 2016-17. Memphis also has never rallied from a 3-1 deficit in three previous chances. Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane said they have to protect that home floor where they won 35 games.
“We got two opportunities there,” said Bane, who promised Memphis would bring the “right mentality” if playing Game 6 on Friday night in Los Angeles.
LeBron James and the Lakers, who earned the No. 7 seed in the play-in tournament, can earn some rest for the next round by finishing the Grizzlies in Memphis. James said the Lakers remain underdogs for how they played during the regular season with a close-out game the hardest of any series.
“It’s the most tiring one, it’s the most brutal one, and we’d better be ready for it,” James said.
Cavaliers All-Star Donovan Mitchell knows only too well how quickly a 3-1 lead can evaporate. He played with Utah when the Jazz blew that lead to Denver in 2020.
“They have to beat us on our home floor, and we’ve got to protect,” Mitchell said. “For us, it’s Game 5. That’s it. I’m not worried about anything after that.”
HEAT AT BUCKS
Miami leads 3-1. Game 4, 7:30 p.m. EDT, TNT.
• NEED TO KNOW: The Heat are one win away from becoming the sixth No. 8 seed to win in the opening round and first since Philadelphia knocked off Chicago in 2012. Those 76ers had now-Bucks guard Jrue Holiday.
• KEEP AN EYE ON: Jimmy Butler. The Miami star has been the best player in these playoffs, and his 56-point night gave the Heat not only a 3-1 lead, but tons of momentum as well.
• INJURY WATCH: Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double in his return from a lower back contusion, but needed treatment after Game 4. The Bucks didn’t leave the arena in Miami until around three hours after the game — an unusually late departure for a team with a flight to catch. Antetokounmpo was listed as probable on the injury report that was released Tuesday. Miami’s Bam Adebayo has a strained left hamstring and also is probable. Milwaukee’s Wesley Matthews hasn’t played since Game 1 due to a strained right calf, but wasn’t included in the injury report, an indication he might be available to return Wednesday.
• PRESSURE IS ON: Milwaukee, obviously. But it’s not like Miami shouldn’t feel any. The Bucks know all they have to do is hold serve at home and win one road game. They also need to avoid another late collapse after being outscored 30-13 over the final six minutes of Game 4.
LAKERS AT GRIZZLIES
Los Angeles leads 3-1, Game 5, 7:30 p.m. EDT, TNT
• NEED TO KNOW: The Lakers are on the verge of reaching the second round for the first time since 2020 when they won the franchise’s 17th championship in the Orlando bubble. These Lakers also are 13-3 coming into this game.
• KEEP AN EYE ON: James. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer is coming off a 20-point, 20-rebound game in his record 270th playoff game. The 38-year-old James also became the oldest to do that in a playoff game, topping Wilt Chamberlain’s mark set May 10, 1973, at 36.
• INJURY WATCH: Ja Morant aggravated his bruised right hand that kept him out of Game 2, and the two-time Grizzlies All-Star point guard avoided using that hand after Monday night’s overtime loss. Lakers center Anthony Davis has a sore right hip that had him using a heating pad on the bench.
• PRESSURE IS ON: Dillon Brooks. The brash defender who called James “old” and that he wanted Memphis to face the Lakers in the first round dodged reporters after both losses in Los Angeles. Brooks finished the last game after being ejected in Game 3, but was 1 of 7 outside the arc.
KNICKS AT CAVALIERS
New York leads 3-1, Game 5, 7 p.m. EDT, NBA TV
• NEED TO KNOW: The Knicks fed off a frenzied Madison Square Garden and now need just one win to finish off the Cavs and advance to the second round for only the second time since 2000. Cleveland has been in a 3-1 hole before, storming back in the 2016 NBA Finals to stun Golden State for the title. Of course, those Cavs had James then.
• KEEP AN EYE ON: Julius Randle. The Knicks’ All-Star forward has been slowed by a sprained ankle since the end of the regular season, and his ineffectiveness in Game 4 (7 points on 3 of 10 shooting) led coach Tom Thibodeau to bench him for the fourth quarter.
• INJURY WATCH: An extra day may be just what Randle needed. Knicks guard Quentin Grimes, one of the team’s best perimeter defenders, missed Game 4 with a shoulder injury.
• PRESSURE IS ON: Mitchell. His arrival in Cleveland via trade last summer raised expectations that he’s delivered, with the exception of Game 4. Mitchell owned his miserable, 11-point performance: “I didn’t show up.” Now he has a chance to atone.
WARRIORS AT KINGS
Tied 2-2. Game 5, 10 p.m. EDT, TNT
• NEED TO KNOW: The home team has won all four games. The Warriors won just 11 games on the road all season and will need at least one at Golden 1 Center if they want to knock off the Kings.
• KEEP AN EYE ON: Draymond Green. The Warriors’ emotional leader was a force defensively in Game 4 after returning from a suspension. He came off the bench for the first time in the playoffs since 2014, but did a good job slowing down De’Aaron Fox in the second half. Green struggled on the offensive end, shooting 3 for 14.
• INJURY WATCH: Fox wore a splint at practice after breaking the index finger on his shooting hand late in Game 4. He is doubtful, but said after practice Tuesday: “Right now there are no ifs, ands or buts. I’m playing.”
• PRESSURE IS ON: Domantas Sabonis. If Fox is unavailable or limited in any fashion, the Kings need much more from their other star. The Warriors have done a good job limiting Sabonis on the offensive end, holding him to 48% shooting, down from 62% in the regular season.
___
AP Basketball Writers Tim Reynolds and Brian Mahoney and AP Sports Writers Greg Beacham, Tom Withers, Steve Megargee and Josh Dubow contributed to this report.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
