Heat win in a nail-biter
In a game that featured very few of each team’s best players, fans were well entertained, with the Heat running away with a close one over the Bucks, 93-92. For Milwaukee, Tyler Smith finally broke out of his slump, notching 21 points (on 4/6 from three) and five rebounds. Miami was led by Vlad Goldin, who had 18 and 10 on the night. Bucks drop to 1-4 in Vegas.
Game Recap
The Bucks got off to a hot start from three-point range, with Markquis Nowell starting 2/2, as well as triples from Tyler Smith and Malik Williams; they led 14-11 at the first timeout. Bogoljub Marković entered the game and made a few nice connections with the aforementioned Smith, who already looked the best he had in Vegas in this one. For the Heat, it was Erik Stevenson keeping them afloat with a game-high 11 points at the end of one. Heat up 29-24.
After not playing at all in Milwaukee’s prior games, Terrence Edwards Jr. showed some stuff early in this one, starting the second with an and-one layup in traffic. The lanky John Butler Jr. also got in on the act with a corner three and an immediate block down the other end, which was nice to see. For the most part, though, scoring dried up significantly for both teams; the game was tied at 37 with five minutes to go. The Bucks got down four after another Stevenson triple but battled back off the back of two nice finishes at the rim from Marković to force the Heat timeout late in the period. Game tied at 52 going into the locker rooms.
The Bucks had multiple defensive breakdowns to start the half, allowing the Heat to take a five-point lead. To make matters worse, Tyler Smith missed two golden opportunities at the rim; a lack of strength is the main thing holding Smith back at the moment. Cormac Ryan kept the Bucks in it as coach Jason Love ran him off various off-ball actions, with Wade Taylor IV nailing the triple to tie it up at 71 late in the third. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, Miami went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter, punctuated by a Dain Dainja hammer over Bogi. Heat up 79-73 after three.
Stanley Umude nailed a tough three to start the fourth, bringing the Bucks within three, but a silly foul in response by Nowell resulted in FTs for the Heat. And finally, the heavens opened up for Tyler Smith, who hit consecutive contested threes to put the Bucks up two halfway through the final frame. Both teams went blow for blow for the next few minutes, with the Heat leading by two going into a timeout with 3:54 left. Following a foul and a subsequent technical from Miami, the Bucks found themselves up three with two minutes left. Vlad Goldin then made consecutive trips to the line to put the Heat up one with less than a minute remaining. However, Milwaukee’s Markquis Nowell nailed a high floater off the backboard after the shot clock ran down. Then, after a jump ball, John Butler Jr. got on the wrong side of Goldin and gave him a lane to the hoop, which he took and scored. David Joplin missed what would have been the game-winning three.
Stat That Stood Out
The summer Bucks turned the ball over 17 times in this game. A few of those possessions would have been handy in a game they lost by one point.
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