NBA playoffs: Bucks beat Bulls again to stave off elimination

Michael Carter-Williams had 22 points and eight assists, Khris Middleton scored 21 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks avoided elimination again with a 94-88 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

With a 3-2 lead, the Bulls will try to close it out again Thursday at Milwaukee. No team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA postseason series.

The Bucks regrouped after a nine-point lead dwindled to three, and they hung on again after a seven-point lead shrunk to four with just over a minute remaining.

Carter-Williams hit 10 of 15 shots and outplayed Derrick Rose. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 11 points and reserve O.J. Mayo had 10 for the Bucks.

Pau Gasol had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago but Rose and Jimmy Butler struggled. Rose was five for 20 from the field, missed all seven of his three-point attempts and committed six turnovers. Butler scored 20 points but shot five for 21.

at Brooklyn 120, Atlanta 115 (OT): Deron Williams rebounded from two dismal games to score 35 points, and the Nets tied the series at two games apiece.

Brooklyn, just 38-44 in the regular season, won its second straight in the series and moved two victories from becoming the sixth No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 — only the fourth since the first round became best-of-seven series.

Bojan Bogdanovic made the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:25 left in overtime but the Nets never would have gotten there without Williams, whose 16 points in the fourth quarter were two fewer than he had in the first three games of the series combined.

Brook Lopez had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets. Jeff Teague had 20 points and 11 assists, and DeMarre Carroll added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks, who host Game 5 on Wednesday.

Memphis at Portland, late