Miami dig deep to snatch 101-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in O.T.
Many in Miami were comparing the back-to-back games with the Milwaukee Bucks as a dry-run for the play-offs.
The games certainly had those enthralling moments.
Two nights after the Milwaukee gave their much fancied opponents from South Beach, a run for their money, the tenacious Bucks were at the throats of the Heat again on Friday night.
Miami had won 11 straight on the road coming into this match, and lately there haven’t been many upsides to hosting the Heat. The showdown against the tenacious Bucks though, proved to be by far one of the toughest games the Heat have played, as they inch
closer to the 1971-72 Lakers' record streak of 16 consecutive road wins.
After the Heat thrust into a 12-point lead in the first quarter, the Bucks took the fight to the Heat in the next three. Eventually though, it took a brilliant effort from Chris Bosh down the stretch, to seal the game for Miami in overtime.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra was upbeat.
"I like these types of games," Spoelstra said. "This is where you grow. I know we'll learn from some of these situations going down the stretch. And the guys had to gut it out. Things were not going our way."
Miami got off to a great start at the Bradley Centre, as they raced to a 12-2 run to set the tone early. The Bucks on the other hand, were having an all too familiar problem with their shooting. They only shot 5-of-13 from the field and 1-of-4 from the three-point
line, as the Heat raced to a 30-18 advantage by the end of the first twelve minutes.
The Bucks offence though picked up some serious pace coming into the second quarter, courtesy some breath taking play from Douglas-Roberts. The second string forward, came off the bench and set the court ablaze with 15 points, as the Bucks zeroed in on the
Heat.
The Bucks outscored the Heat 30-25 in the second quarter, but headed to the locker-room still trailing by 48-55. They however, managed to level the scores soon, as they reeled off an 11-2 spurt midway, capped by a John Salmons lay-up shot.
The Heat hung tough though and carried a 75-72 lead into the final quarter.
Defence ruled the fourth quarter as the shots from both teams dried up. Milwaukee though, turned the tide in their favour midway as they rattled off an 11 point unanswered spurt, to sprint at an 85-81 advantage. Earl Boykins ripped in a jumper with three
minutes left, to spark the home team to 87-83.
Dwyane Wade then stepped up for Miami.
He hit two consecutive jumpers, drawing a foul on the second against Andrew Bogut, which tied the game at 87. Wade missed the free throw, but Bosh rushed in the lane to follow with a tip that made it 89-87.
With 26 seconds left to play, Douglas-Roberts made a crucial error as he spurned two free throws after being fouled by Wade.
Bosh and Bogut then each fired from the charity stripe twice to nudge the score to 93-91 with just 18.5 second left. Boykins followed to pull off the game-equalising layup with 1.5 second left, as the Bucks screened his path.
Wade though had a last ditch chance to win it for Miami in regulation time, but his wide open triple point attempt from 18 feet rattled off the ring to send the game into overtime.
Miami looked more like a team that had won 19 of the last 20 games going into overtime, as they brushed aside the Bucks 10-4 in that span to finally squeak out a win.
The ‘Big Three’ trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had an extremely cold shooting night. The three stalwarts combined for just 18-for-58 from the field. James however led the Heat with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while Chris Bosh
had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
James said after the match, "It's not always going to be a bed of roses for us three and for our team. We shot less than 40 percent from the field as a team, but we found a way to win and continued to get stops, especially in the fourth and in overtime.”
Douglas-Roberts led the home team with 30 points and four steals, while Andrew Bogut notched up 12 points and a career-high 27 rebounds. However, the Bucks just lost pace in overtime as they went 0-3 against Miami this season.
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