The Miami HEAT fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 109-85 Friday night at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Dwyane Wade led the way for the HEAT with 28 points and eight assists.
Impact Performance of the Night: Despite the loss, Dwyane Wade had a strong performance against the Bucks. When Milwaukee put the taller Giannis Antetokounmpo on him, Wade facilitated and created well for his teammates. Wade mainly did his work inside, but he also hit a few mid-range jumpers. In all, Wade scored 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting and also dished out eight assists.
The Deciding Run: The Bucks went on a 13-2 run to close the third quarter and go up 80-71 entering the fourth. Miami would continue to fight back, but it unfortunately wasn’t enough.
Earlier, the HEAT went on a 13-3 run that went from the end of the first quarter into the beginning of the second quarter and put them up 36-25. Miami started off the game with much-improved defense and caused a lot of steals in the early going.
Play of the Game: Just before the end of the first quarter, Mario Chalmers drove to the left wing with two guys on him. Chris Bosh came up, slipped the screen and cut inside. Chalmers rifled a pass inside to Bosh, who finished the two-handed slam to put Miami up 30-25.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 89.6; Defensive Efficiency: 116.7
Trend to Watch: While Miami struggled a bit defensively, it disrupted Milwaukee and caused plenty of turnovers. The HEAT forced the Bucks to commit 25 turnovers on Friday night and they scored 24 points off of them. Mario Chalmers led the charge early on in that department and had six steals in all. As a team, the HEAT totaled 16 steals. Unfortunately, it didn’t translate in a win, but that kind of effort will be needed moving forward.
The Takeaway: The HEAT had a promising start, as they played pretty solid defense and moved the ball well in the first quarter. While Wade and Bosh kept the pedal to the metal, things started to unravel a bit for Miami. A few guys started to get hot for the Bucks, mainly Kendall Marshall, and they took it from there. As usual, Miami fought hard until the end.
The HEAT’s next matchup will be a tough one Sunday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Look for Miami to try and replicate what it did in the first quarter Friday night and sustain it for a longer period of time.
Notes: Danny Granger started since Luol Deng sat out with a hand injury.
Game Highlights: