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Heat begin title defense, cruise past Bucks

Miami’s Chris Anderson dunks over Milwaukee’s John Henson. (Associated Press)
Associated Press
Miami’s Chris Anderson dunks over Milwaukee’s John Henson. (Associated Press)

LeBron James has never taken fewer shots in a playoff game than he did on Sunday night, which at first glance might seem like a good thing for the Milwaukee Bucks.

It was not.

James scored 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting – finishing two assists shy of a triple-double – while Ray Allen scored 20 off the bench and the defending champion Heat picked up where they left off in the NBA playoffs a year ago, never trailing on the way to beating the Bucks 110-87 in Miami in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.

“All I care about is the win,” James said. “I didn’t even know my stats. I just knew that we were playing efficient offensively besides the turnovers.”

Dwyane Wade scored 16, Chris Bosh added 15 and Chris Andersen finished with 10 on 4-of-4 shooting for the Heat, who opened their title defense by holding Milwaukee to 42 percent shooting and outrebounding the Bucks 46-31.

Brandon Jennings scored 26 points and Monta Ellis added 22 for the Bucks, who have not won the opening game of a playoff series since May 2001.

Thunder 120, Rockets 91: Kevin Durant scored 24 points, Russell Westbrook made a run at a triple-double in three quarters and Oklahoma City routed the visiting Houston in Game 1 of their playoff series.

James Harden, playing against the team that traded him away just before the season started, had 20 points for the Rockets, but the league’s second-highest scoring offense was held 15 points below its regular-season average while shooting 36 percent.

Spurs 91, Lakers 79: Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker scored 18 points each as San Antonio beat visiting Los Angeles in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.

Tim Duncan added 17 points and 10 rebounds, Matt Bonner had 10 points and Kawhi Leonard had eight points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs.

Dwight Howard had 20 points and 15 rebounds, Steve Nash scored 16 points and Pau Gasol added 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers.

Pacers 107, Hawks 90: Paul George scored 23 points and recorded his first playoff triple double, leading Indiana past Atlanta in Indianapolis for a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference series.

George made just 3 of 13 shots but was 17 of 18 from the free-throw line, had 11 rebounds and 12 assists.

Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 21 points.