MIAMI (AP) — Another game. Another blowout.
The Milwaukee Bucks have a chance to sweep the Miami Heat out of
the playoffs, and they're making the task of dispatching the
reigning Eastern Conference champions look very simple.
Khris Middleton scored 22 points, Jrue Holiday added 19 points
and 12 assists and the Bucks took a 3-0 lead in their East
first-round series with a 113-84 victory in Miami on Thursday
night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds
for Milwaukee, which can finish the sweep and move into the East
semifinals with a win Saturday afternoon.
“The last two games haven't been easy," Antetokounmpo said.
“Obviously, we were up 30, but it's not easy. ... I'll say this:
I'll say by us doing our job, I'm not surprised that we're able to
win a game because once we focus on ourselves, play together, have
fun and be tough, good things are going to happen. And in these
three games, good things have happened for us."
Miami has lost three games by 29 points or more this season —
all against Milwaukee, two of them in the last two games of this
series. The Bucks held leads of 51 and 36 points against Miami in
games earlier this season; the margin got to 32 on Thursday
night.
And as if Milwaukee needed another edge, there's this: No team
in NBA history has ever squandered a 3-0 series lead.
“We're not worried about that. We control what we can control,
and that's how we play, that's how we prepare, how we compete,"
Miami forward Jimmy Butler said. “Not too worried about what
history says and all of that good stuff, but we've got our work cut
out for us."
Butler scored 19 points and Bam Adebayo had 17 for Miami.
Nemanja Bjelica — little-used by Miami this season, then called
upon Thursday out of desperation for any sort of outside shooting —
scored 14 points.
Milwaukee outrebounded Miami 56-41, held the Heat to 38%
shooting and became the first team to top Miami by at least 29
points twice in the same playoff series. And that's after the Bucks
beat Miami by 47, in Miami, back in December.
“We've got to continue to work," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer
said. “They have so many weapons on the other side. They do a lot
of things that are hard to guard. Defensively, our focus, our
attention to detail has got to stay high."
The biggest Miami crowd of the season, by far — 17,000 in a
building that in pre-pandemic times called 19,600 a sellout —
showed up, most of them in their seats by tip-off, hoping that they
would see the start of a turnaround.
Instead, in the biggest game of the season, they saw Miami’s
slowest start of the season.
The Heat managed only eight points in the game’s first nine
minutes, the fewest they managed in such a game-opening span since
last August and the fewest to open a game on their home floor since
Nov. 14, 2018.
It was 26-14 Milwaukee after one quarter, then the lead swelled
to as much as 19 — 44-25 late in the second before got to 49-36 at
the half. That matched the fewest points allowed by the Bucks in a
first half in more than three years.
“They’re making shots and they’re making tough ones,” Adebayo
said. “And the ball won’t go in for us.”
The margin swelled to 27 in the third quarter. More than a few
of those 17,000 fans didn’t stick around too much longer.
TIP-INS
Bucks: Donte DiVencenzo (left foot contusion) played nine
minutes and was ruled out for the rest of the game. He missed all
four of his shots. ... The last time Milwaukee allowed fewer than
36 points in a first half was April 22, 2018, when it gave up 35 in
a playoff game against Boston. The Bucks gave up 36 at Indiana on
Nov. 16, 2019.
Heat: NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum and rapper Flo Rida
were part of the crowd. ... Not only were the Heat offering fans
the chance to get their first dose of the Moderna vaccine at the
game, but further incentivized it by giving 10% off purchases at
the team store. ... Heat fans, mindful that Antetokounmpo was
called for a 10-second violation on a free throw in Game 1,
screamed out a seconds count on his foul shots in the fourth
quarter.
ONE-SIDED
Miami led more of Game 1 than Milwaukee did; the Heat were ahead
for just over 22 minutes, the Bucks just over 21 minutes. Since
then, it’s been all Milwaukee. Out of a possible 96 minutes in
Games 2 and 3, Milwaukee has led for 93 minutes, 49 seconds; it’s
been tied for 1:54 and the Heat have led for a total of 17
seconds.
SWEEPAGE
This is Miami’s first 3-0 series deficit since a first-round
matchup against Boston in 2010. The Heat lost that series in five
games and haven’t been swept since the 2007 first round against
Chicago. Milwaukee is up 3-0 for the first time since sweeping
Detroit in Round 1 of the 2019 playoffs.
FIVE-SHOT TRIP
No possession saw Milwaukee’s rebounding dominance more apparent
that one late in the first quarter, one in which the Bucks got four
offensive boards before scoring. Portis and P.J. Tucker each had
two offensive rebounds on the possession, which ended with a Portis
putback.
LONG TIME
Miami’s last postseason win on its home floor was May 13, 2016.
Of the current Heat players, only Goran Dragic and Udonis Haslem
remain from that team. Dragic scored 30 points in that win over
Toronto; Haslem didn’t play. They didn’t make the playoffs in 2017
or 2019, were 0-2 at home in the 2018 playoffs and weren’t at home
for last year’s run to the NBA Finals.
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