The Miami HEAT fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 91-79 Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside each had 23 points apiece for the HEAT.
1. Bosh Takes It to the Rim
Early on, Bosh primarily attacked the basket on Tuesday night. In doing so, he put a lot of pressure on Milwaukee’s defense. While he fared well overall, Bosh did most of his damage in the second and third quarters, where he scored 17 of his 23 points. For the contest, he shot a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe and nailed both of his 3-pointers.
On the flip side of the ball, Bosh made some key deflections and competed well defensively as usual. Quite simply, he did all he could to keep Miami in it. In addition to his 23 points, Bosh also tallied five boards and two assists.
2. Whiteside Feasts
From the start, Whiteside did a great job of cleaning the glass against the Bucks. He created plenty of second-chance opportunities for the HEAT, as he tallied four offensive rebounds in the first half alone. While most of his points through the first two quarters came off those boards, he also finished this fantastic alley-oop thanks to Dwyane Wade. The duo would connect again in the third quarter, as Wade found the big man with nice bounce pass inside.
Otherwise, it was good to see Whiteside continue to plug away in the fourth quarter with Miami down. In the period, the center bullied his way inside and threw down quite a few dunks. In all, Whiteside shot 8-of-9 for his 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds (seven offensive) on the night.
3. Rook Gets Some Burn
With Goran Dragic and Beno Udrih out once more, Josh Richardson received some valuable playing time. For a majority of the contest, he displayed great defensive instincts against Milwaukee. On one play in particular in the third quarter, he read the passing lane well and swiped an errant pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo to create a transition opportunity for the HEAT.
Oh, and let’s not forget this fantastic dunk Richardson had over Antetokounmpo in the first quarter after he drove straight down Main Street.
The former Tennessee Volunteer ended the game with three points, three steals and an assist.
Other Takeaways:
-Miami’s only fast break points of the evening came on a spectacular play by Justise Winslow.
With 5:45 to go in the second quarter, Winslow grabbed the defensive rebound after Bosh tipped the ball in the air. From there, Winslow took it down court and passed it to Gerald Green on his left, who then threw up a pretty lob to Winslow for the alley-oop jam.
That was Winslow’s only field goal of the game, but he also nabbed three rebounds and dished out an assist. Green, meanwhile, had six points against the Bucks.
Game Note: Beno Udrih (neck), Goran Dragic (calf), Chris Andersen (knee) and Josh McRoberts (knee) all sat out.
