A COLD SPELL
Eight-point third period sinks Bucks
MIAMI – The crowd at American-Airlines Arena was loud and animated, wired to erupt any time Dwyane Wade did anything at all.
Wade didn’t do much in his return to the Miami Heat on Friday night – he had three points, two rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 22 minutes – but the energy the former Marquette University star provided with his feel-good story may have been enough.
In the end, the Milwaukee Bucks’ three-game winning streak ended, doomed by a brutal third quarter that resulted in a 91-85 loss.
Bucks coach Joe Prunty, understandably, was not very focused on Wade’s first game with the Heat since Thursday’s trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, reuniting the future Hall of Fame shooting guard with his original franchise after a 21--
month absence.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Prunty said. “You would expect that – it’s something you would anticipate.”
The Bucks were led by all-star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 23 points and 11 rebounds and also got 19 points from Eric Bledsoe.
However, Antetokounmpo was held to 8-of-20 shooting. He shot just 3-of-14 through three quarters, when the Heat built an 18-point lead.
The Heat outscored the Bucks, 30-8, in that third quarter, but Prunty was not about to fault the Greek Freak.
Instead, he credited Miami’s defense.
“Take him specifically out of the equation,” Prunty said when asked about his all-star. “(The Heat was) very physical. They did a nice job of recovering for one another.
“In transition, they had some hustle plays, whether it was to block shots or get deflections. They were very active.”
Miami, which snapped a five-game losing streak, was led by Tyler Johnson’s 19 points. Heat center Hassan Whiteside added 12 points and a gamehigh 17 rebounds, and rookie Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Early on, though, it was all Milwaukee as the Bucks got off to a fast start at 9-0. But Wade, who entered the game with 5:19 left in the first quarter, gave Miami some juice.
Wade got a rebound on his first defensive possession and set up Whiteside for an alley-oop on his first offensive possession. Wade also had a block and a three-pointer in the first period as Miami cut its deficit to 23-19.
Milwaukee maintained its four-point lead, taking a 46-42 advantage into halftime. Wade missed all three of his second-quarter shots and was minusseven at the half. As a team, Miami shot just 34.9% in the first half. Milwaukee shot 44.7%.
Miami surged ahead in the third quarter, using a 13-0 run to take a 72-54 lead. Miami held Milwaukee to 23.5% shooting in the third quarter.
“There were a lot of stretches where we were outscored significantly,” Prunty said. “We struggled to score in the third.
“There were also stretches in the first half where we were pushing the ball. We were getting stops, but we were making some sloppy turnovers. Our turnovers ended up being high with 18. There were stretches where we could’ve made better decisions.”
The Bucks cut their deficit to 85-81 on a three-pointer by Bledsoe with 54 seconds remaining in the game but couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch.
“We continued to move the ball in that fourth quarter,” Prunty said. “We shared it. There were other instances where we over-dribbled and did not make the extra pass.”