Seven players scored in double-figures, as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Miami Heat, 109-102, Tuesday night at American Airlines Arena. After winning both of their earlier season matchups, the Bucks grabbed the decisive third game out of four this year to win the series and if these two teams tie each other’s records at the end of the season, the tiebreaker and playoff seed goes to Milwaukee.

The first quarter was a close, hard fought battle as each team traded baskets and the lead back and forth until Milwaukee held a one point advantage, 30-29, heading into the second quarter.

The Bucks initiated a 15-6 run to start the second quarter and claimed a ten point lead, 45-35, holding on for the 54-50 advantage heading into halftime.

A major philosophy for the Bucks has been to spread the ball around and get everyone involved. In their past two games, Milwaukee has accumulated 62 assists, including a season-high 33 against Detroit Saturday night, and that trend continued in the first half as the Bucks had 14 assists on 19 field goals, a 74 percent conversion rate.

Swingman Khris Middleton led Milwaukee with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half, while Miami’s Chris Bosh also had 13 points on a modest 5-of-9 shooting.

Down 57-50 in the third quarter, the Miami Heat erupted for a 12-2 run to take a 62-59 lead on a Bosh jumper and after Brandon Knight hit a three to tie it up at 62 apiece, the Heat went on another 16-6 run to take a ten point, 78-68, advantage on a Norris Cole three-pointer with 3:54 left in the period and seized control of the game.

Then, in a dramatic turn of events, Milwaukee started to heat back up as Miami went cold from the floor and went on an 11-1 run in under two minutes to tie the game at 79.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Heat clung tightly to an 86-85 lead but then the Bucks took over. Led by Jerryd Bayless’ 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting, Milwaukee went on a 17-5 run from trailing one point to leading 102-91 en route to the victory.

Brandon Knight had 17 points and six assists while his fellow backcourt mate Khris Middleton also had 17. The bench, which played a crucial role down the stretch, outscored the Heat’s bench 44-13 as Milwaukee got 15 from Jerryd Bayless, 14 from O.J. Mayo, 13 from Giannis Antetokounmpo, 12 from John Henson and 11 from Jared Dudley.

Bosh led Miami with 26 points, while Mario Chalmers added 21 points and Hassan Whiteside totaled 16 points and 16 boards.

To add insult to their loss, Miami lost Dwyane Wade with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter with a strained right hamstring and finished the night with 12 points in 18 minutes.

If that wasn’t enough, Luol Deng and Chris Anderson were kept out of the starting lineup due to lingering injuries, as Danny Granger and Whiteside took their places.

The only casualty Milwaukee had was Ersan Illyasova, as he left the first half with a groin injury, after scoring four points in 10 minutes. Injuries have not been kind to Illyasova as he has been out a considerable amount of time due to a broken nose and concussion.

The last stop in Milwaukee’s three-game road trip will be at Orlando on Thursday as the Bucks will take on the Magic, while the Heat will host the Dallas Mavericks this Friday.

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About the author
Mike Tews
My name is Mike and I'm a journalism major from UW-Madison.