The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Miami Heat 120-103 at American Airlines Arena on Saturday, sweeping the opponents 4-0 in the series and becoming the first team to make Conference semifinals.

This result can be the best vengeance for the Bucks after being knocked out by the Heat in the Eastern semifinals last season.

"There's a saying, don't play with your food. We didn't want to play with our food," said Bucks star player Giannis Antetokounmpo to TNT in the post-game interview. The Greek Freak had his first playoff triple-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists. They were not the prettiest numbers, but the process of Antetokounmpo getting them was very interesting.

The two-time NBA MVP had really cold hands in the first half during which he went 1-7 to get only five points. However, instead of growing irascible, Antetokounmpo was reading the game accurately and scanning the floor carefully. He knew that the Heat would invest most of their defensive attention on him so he took advantage of it, delivering seven assists.

Though the Heat were making a lot noise in the first half, their lead was only seven points. When Trevor Ariza, Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro could not drain shots from downtown in the second half, the Heat fell into trouble.

Antetokounmpo was still not shooting well in Q3, but he was excellent doing other things, like grabbing rebounds and driving fast breaks. He got seven rebounds and six assists in this quarter, leading the Bucks onto a 34-21 run. Meanwhile Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton began to find their game, contributing 20 points together.

By contrast, the Heat's offense was almost paralyzed thanks to the Bucks' defensive concept of switching everything. If it weren't for the right straight points scored by Kendrick Nunn, the team might not even reach double-digit points during that quarter.

Having watched Antetokounmpo focus on orchestrating for three quarters, the Heat in the last quarter seemed to have decided not to trap him as hard as they had been for the past two years.

That turned out to be the last mistake the Heat would make. From the very beginning of Q4, Antetokounmpo stopped at nothing to charge against the Heat's rim and destroyed every defender that tried to stop him individually. He was 6-7 in field goals to score 12 points, dominating the opponents in his own way.

Having averaged 23.5 points, 15 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.8 blocks per game in the series, Antetokounmpo showed the world how he has grown as a leader. When he had a problem scoring, he allocated more energy to defense; when his teammates were hot, he put them in charge of offense; when he saw the chance to kill the game, Antetokounmpo killed and made the best of it.

That's the guy the Brooklyn Nets may meet in the Eastern semifinals with their vulnerable internal defense.

Denver Nuggets 95-115 Portland Trail Blazers (2-2)

It happens a lot in the playoffs when both teams watch their best players underperform in one of the games of the series. Someone else, the second man in command or a role player will have to stand out and carry his team in those moments.

That what happened in Game 4 between the Nuggets and the Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Saturday. Nikola Jokic was 7-18 to get 16 points and nine rebounds for the Nuggets while Damian Lillard did worse going 1-10 to score 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The two should be able to do a bit better given more time but the game was long gone in the third quarter.

Norman Powell stood out for the Trail Blazers. He buried all four attempts from the 3-point line and put down a game-high of 29 points for his team. C.J. McCollum had 21 points and nine assists. Even Jusuf Nurkic contributed 17 points. Though he's far from a first-class finisher, Nurkic shoots to kill from time to time, which usually brings the Trail Blazers to victory.

By contrast, the Nuggets again had to watch Michael Porter Jr. fail their expectations. Somehow, he only took three attempts in the game, all from the right corner, and made only one of them. He also grabbed five rebounds but had no assists, steals or blocks while causing two turnovers and earning personal fouls.

The Nuggets miss no one but Jamal Murray at the moment.

Philadelphia 76ers 132-103 Washington Wizards (3-0)

With Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris in their lineup, the 76ers are basically the biggest team in the league. It may make sense to send a small-ball against them, trying to take advantage of quickness and spacing.

But that does not justify Wizards coach Scott Brooks' rotation at Capital One Arena on Saturday. He was already under a lot of criticism for his obsession with the three-guard – Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal and Raul Neto – small-ball squad previously. Then in Saturday's game, Brooks went further to put four guards – the above three plus Ish Smith – on the floor together with Robin Lopez.

When the whole team of the Wizards shot 8-35 from the arc, they were committing a suicide going so tiny. As a result, Embiid was 14-18 to get 36 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes. Harris had a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds. Simmons even laughed at the Wizards with a "you're too small" gesture after scoring over Russell Westbrook's head in the second quarter.

Westbrook dropped a triple-double of 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while carrying an ankle injury. He even went 3-6 from downtown. Unfortunately, that failed to stop the 76ers from approaching a sweeping victory in the series.

Utah Jazz 121-111 Memphis Grizzlies (2-1)

The Jazz entered the postseason as No. 1 of the league with a 52-20 record – in fact, they are the only 50+win team this season. However, many still doubted their strength, arguing that the team may fall apart against playoff-level intensity.

Some of those voices can switch off after Saturday's game. The 10-point win over the Grizzlies, even on the road, does not seem very dominant, but the Jazz have developed qualities of a true champion candidate in the game.

The Grizzlies tried everything they had in the three games so far. Since they could not pose enough threat from the 3-point line (13-41) at FedExForum in Game 3, the Grizzlies targeted at the Jazz's paint and its protector Rudy Gobert on offense. From Ja Morant to Dillon Brooks and to Jonas Valanciunas, all Grizzlies tried to drive in and charge the rim. If they are lucky, they score; if they are less lucky, they earn a foul; even if they get nothing, at least they can make Gobert grow tired faster.

As a result, the French giant committed five fouls in the game and two happened in the last quarter.

That's not the only trick Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins pulled out his sleeve at home. In the fourth quarter, he replaced Valanciunas with Jaren Jackson Jr. on the court, going small against the Jazz. The quickness and aggressiveness of this squad took the Jazz by surprise. Not only did they grab series of offensive rebounds, the Grizzlies also drove a 13-2 run to tie the score. When Morant made a layup at 4:27, the Grizzlies even led 109-107.

That's when Donovan Mitchell took over the stage. He scored 10 straight points in the last four minutes in front of different defenders, making sure the Jazz take the lead in the series. Mitchell was not the only team hero on Saturday night. Mike Conley went 7-10 from the arc to get 27 points. Gobert survived the foul pressure to score a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds plus four blocks.

The Jazz are learning to play like a strong team and they growing better and better.