The Miami HEAT fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 109-102 Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Chris Bosh led the way for the HEAT with 26 points and four rebounds.
Impact Performance of the Night: Despite the loss, Chris Bosh had a strong outing against the Bucks. Bosh had the stroke going all night and found success early against Milwaukee. Even when he was contested, Bosh hit the baseline, mid-range jumper pretty much all game. In all, Bosh shot 10-of-19 for his 26 points and also grabbed four boards.
The Deciding Run: The Bucks went on an 11-3 run to go up 106-94 with 1:47 left in regulation thanks to Jerryd Bayless. With the help of Bosh and Hassan Whiteside, the HEAT would cut into the lead, but it wasn’t enough.
Earlier, the HEAT went on a 13-4 run to cut the Bucks’ lead to 49-48 with less than two minutes to go in the second quarter. Miami started to aggressively take it to the hoop a little bit more during the run.
Play of the Game: With 5:30 left in the third quarter, Hassan Whiteside faced-up John Henson. He then went with a nice spin move, absorbed contact from Henson and finished the tough layup. Whiteside hit the ensuing free throw to put the HEAT up 73-64.
Another nice play came with about four minutes to go in the second quarter when Hassan Whiteside grabbed a defensive rebound and rifled a nice pass up ahead to Dwyane Wade. Wade took it all the way up court in transition, absorbed contact from Kris Middleton and finished the tough lay-in. Wade hit the following free throw to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 45-40.
Lastly, with 10:33 left in the first quarter, Dwyane Wade got out in transition and Hassan Whiteside ran the floor with him. Wade faked a shot and dumped it inside to Whiteside, who gathered himself and finished the two-handed stuff to put Miami up 5-3 early.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 108.0; Defensive Efficiency: 117.0
Trend to Watch: Mario Chalmers continued his recent resurgence on Tuesday night. When Dwyane Wade exited the game in the third quarter, Chalmers really started to go to work. Chalmers scored 12 of his 21 points in the third and made sure Miami continued to keep the pressure on Milwaukee’s defense. He beat his man off-the-dribble quite often and got to the hoop pretty much at will. Chalmers finished with 21 points and eight assists on the night.
The Takeaway: Even though they fell a little short, the HEAT executed relatively well against one of the best defenses in the league. Miami shot nearly 51 percent for the game, as both Bosh and Chalmers had pretty solid outings. On the other end, the Bucks hit a lot of tough outside shots against the HEAT. In particular, Jerryd Bayless hit some contested shots for Milwaukee down the stretch that enabled it to come away with the win.
Up next for Miami are the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Notes:
- Hassan Whiteside had 16 points and 16 rebounds against the Bucks.
- Dwyane Wade exited the game in the third quarter with a strained right hamstring and didn’t return.
- Luol Deng (calf) and Chris Andersen (elbow, back) sat out.
Game Highlights: