They decided it would be business as usual
Budenholzer’s starters play regular minutes
Before the game between their teams Saturday night at Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer and Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra acknowledged the obvious: The upcoming game had direct playoff implications for their squads.
With the Bucks holding the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Heat sitting at No. 6, the outcome would impact if these teams would be tipping it off again in a week in the opening round of the playoffs.
Spoelstra kept an eye on the New York’s victory Saturday afternoon, as there is a logjam with the Knicks at No. 4, Atlanta at No. 5 and the Heat in which any combination of results could reshuffle them. Budenholzer said the plan for his team was simple, “We’re just gonna play.”
A loss to the Heat likely would prevent the teams from facing one anoth
er, but Budenholzer insisted his team wasn’t going to try and manipulate the standings through different lineups or minutes restrictions.
The result was a Bucks team handling its business and winning for the eighth time in 10 games. The Heat kept the game from becoming a blowout in the second half but the Bucks held at least a 10-point lead from the 4:07 mark of the first quarter and were never really in jeopardy of losing the game.
Budenholzer kept his word, as starters Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez and Donte DiVincenzo played their regular minutes. And, Budenholzer kept his rotation tight in playing just four men off the bench until the game was decided.
The Bucks were balanced offensively, as Middleton (21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists), Holiday (20 points, 10 assists) led the way. They were joined by Lopez (18 points) Antetokounmpo (15) and DiVincenzo (11).
Bryn Forbes (21) and Bobby Portis (14) provided the scoring off the bench.
The Heat, who were without former Marquette University star Jimmy Butler (back tightness), were paced by Kendrick Nunn’s season-high 31 points. Duncan Robinson (17), Trevor Ariza (11) and Goran Dragić (17) reached double figure for Miami.
Whitnall High School alumnus Tyler Herro scored three points on 1-for-9 shooting. He also pulled in six rebounds.
Butler did not play in any of the three games between the Bucks and Heat, a series which the Bucks won, 2-1.
Milwaukee (46-25) heads to Chicago for the regular-season finale Sunday night and a chance to become the first team in league history to finish division play unbeaten. The Bucks are 11-0 in the Central.
Miami (39-32), which had its fourgame winning streak snapped, will end its regular season Sunday at Detroit.
The Bucks took a 104-84 lead early in the fourth quarter on a three-point play by Middleton, and while the Heat eventually worked it down to 109-98 with 4:28 to go in the game, it took them nearly six minutes to do so.
After falling behind big in the first half the Heat showed life in the third quarter, but the Bucks always managed to find a run of baskets to prevent their double-digit lead from disappearing. The Heat opened the quarter on a 12-3 run to make it 73-63, but then the Bucks scored seven straight. Miami went on a 11-6 run to make it 86-74, but then the Bucks scored four straight.
The back-and-forth allowed the Bucks to maintain a 99-81 lead after the third quarter.
The Bucks put on an offensive clinic in the first half, scoring 70 points and shooting above 70% until the final moments of the half.
Only seven players scored for Milwaukee, but Lopez (14), Holiday (12), Middleton (11) and Portis (11) provided a punch as Antetokounmpo scored seven on five shots. The Heat were led by Nunn, who scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The rest of his team was a combined 13 for 39.
Milwaukee took a 70-51 lead into the break and led by as many as 24 points. They trailed just twice, when a pair of Nunn threes gave the Heat leads of 3-2 and 6-5 in the opening two minutes.