Bucks 104, Heat 85
By Andrew Wagner, The Sports XChange
MILWAUKEE -- Larry Sanders scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds -- one of five Milwaukee players to score in double-figures -- as the Bucks beat the Miami Heat on Saturday night, 104-85, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
After blowing a 12-point halftime lead, Milwaukee used a 22-4 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to retake the lead, going ahead by as many as 19 when Mike Dunleavy Jr. connected on a three-pointer making it a 95-76 game with just over five minutes to play.
Dunleavy finished with 18 points and six assists while Monta Ellis had 14 with nine assists. Brandon Jennings led Milwaukee with 25 points, seven assists and four steals while Luc Richard Mbah a Moute set a season high with 19 and seven rebounds.
The Heat lost for the second straight night despite getting 26 points from LeBron James and 24 from Dwyane Wade. James scored 14 of his total in the third quarter.
Miami (20-7) was sloppy early, turning the ball over seven times in the first half and falling behind by as many as nine points and trailed, 56-44 at the half.
Miami erased the Bucks' 12-point halftime lead with an 11-0 run to open the second half and took the lead for the first time all night on a Lebron James tip-in at 6:03 to make it a 60-58 game.
During that stretch, Milwaukee missed its first 12 shots and after making 22 of 46 shots in the first half, shot just 20.1 percent (6 of 29) in the third quarter. Still, the Bucks managed to stay close and started its comeback run with seven consecutive points: a layup by Ersan Ilyasova, a 3-pointer by Monta Ellis and a jumper by Epke Udoh to close out the quarter, down by two, 71-69.
NOTES: The Bucks were one of only five teams to beat Miami multiple times last year, winning the season series, 2-1. ... Heat guard Ray Allen played his first seven seasons in Milwaukee and still holds the franchise record for most 3-pointers made (1,051) and is ninth on the Bucks' all-time scoring list with 9,861 career points. "It goes really fast," said Allen, now in his 17th season. "I remember being here and being the young guy." ... James has scored at least 20 points in each of Miami's first 27 games this season. ... Wade, who played collegiately in Milwaukee for Marquette, is shooting 58.7 percent from the field in his last eight games. He returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension Friday in Detroit. ... Forward Udonis Haslem missed the game after taking a hard fall Friday in Detroit. Shane Battier made the start in Haslem's place.
