The Milwaukee Bucks gave the Miami Heat a big run for their money, but could not emerge victorious, losing 103-106 in a tight tussle. Myles Turner and Ryan Rollins led the Bucks with a combined 50 points.
Tyler Herro was awesome for the Heat as he returned from injury, dropping 29 big ones.
Game Recap
All told, it was a damn good opening stanza for Milwaukee. Their offence was crisp and decisive, allowing them to get to good looks at the end of each possession. AJ Green got the Bucks going with consecutive threes, the second of those coming from deep. Then, for the rest of the quarter, the Bucks made a concerted effort to get it to Myles Turner following screening actions to combat the Heat’s switching defence; Turner made a bunch of great decisions out of those actions, generating scores for himself and others. Of course, the Heat were able to keep up with the Bucks as contributions came from everywhere—Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, and Bam Adebayo being the main culprits—but it was a solid quarter from the visitors, regardless, down 27-29 after one.
Milwaukee’s offence slowed to open the second (despite getting some great looks), but their defence stayed just as good, with the deficit remaining at two points through the opening three minutes. The Heat pulled away slightly after that, as the Bucks went on a 3:37 field goal drought; thankfully, AJ Green put an end to it midway through the period with his third three of the night. Unfortunately, the visitors couldn’t parlay Green’s triple into more offence, shooting just 15% in the quarter at that point; Kel’el Ware and Norman Powell took advantage, extending Miami’s advantage to eight, leading 43-35. The Bucks would respond, though, going on an 8-2 run that Turner and Rollins spearheaded. At the half, the Bucks were down six, 47-53.
Bam Adebayo got the Heat off to a good start in the second half with a three, a shot he is taking 5.3 times per game this season, up from just 2.8 last year. Gary Trent responded with his own triple in transition, which was then followed by an awesome AJ Green dime off a dribble handoff as he read the low-man help defender cheating to the corner, zipping it to Turner under the hoop. Milwaukee continued to play well on both ends for the next 4-5 minutes, taking a three-point lead with just over four minutes to go after an impressive Rollins step-back three. The Bucks were down four, 77-81, after three.
Milwaukee had done a decent job taking care of the ball up to the start of the fourth, but a Cole Anthony turnover to open the final frame kick-started Miami. That said, the victors were able to dissect the Heat’s zone fairly easily in the first few minutes, with Portis scoring on back-to-back plays. Unfortunately, another pick-six turnover from the Bucks allowed Herro to score in transition as Doc called a timeout with the home team up 87-81. AJ Green nailed another tough three coming out of the timeout, but that bucket was followed by deep balls from Herro and Pelle Larsson, and Andrew Wiggins, as the Heat’s edge blew out to 12 halfway through the fourth. The Bucks did not give up, though, whittling the Heat’s lead to just three with 47 seconds left after a set of tough threes from Trent. Then, following a missed Rollins free throw, the Bucks got the offensive rebound, and GT had a chance to tie, but he narrowly missed as the Heat escaped with the win.
Stat That Stood Out
Miami won the game with their depth, beating Milwaukee 36-18 in bench points.
