Antetokounmpo, Lillard combine for 65, and Bucks earn quarterfinal berth by topping Heat 131-124

2023-11-29 11:48

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, Damian Lillard added 32 and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 131-124 on Tuesday night and clinch a home quarterfinal game in the NBA In-Season Tournament

MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, Damian Lillard added 32 and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 131-124 on Tuesday night and clinch a home quarterfinal game in the NBA In-Season Tournament.

Khris Middleton scored 17, Malik Beasley had 16 and Brook Lopez added 12 for the Bucks, who won East Group B with a 4-0 record.

They'll host wild-card New York on either Dec. 4 or 5, with East Group C winner Boston going to Group A winner Indiana for the other quarterfinal before the Final Four in Las Vegas.

Bam Adebayo scored 31 points for the Heat, who got 21 from Kyle Lowry and 20 from Josh Richardson. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Caleb Martin each scored 14 and Duncan Robinson added 13 for the Heat.

Miami was without Jimmy Butler (ankle) and Haywood Highsmith (back); Butler averaged 37.6 points in Miami’s five-game ouster of Milwaukee in last season’s playoffs, with games of 56 and 42 in the final two matchups of that series.

The Bucks lost Pat Connaughton to a sprained right ankle late in the second quarter.

Lowry made a 3-pointer with 3:25 left to put Miami up 118-115, but the Bucks finished on a 16-6 run. Lillard made three free throws with 1:03 remaining to help put the game out of reach, following a foul call against Richardson and a technical assessed to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

The Heat missed 10 of their first 11 shots and quickly got down 15-2. The 1-for-11 start was the third-worst stretch over the first 5 1/2 minutes of a game this season; Chicago was 0 for 8 against Miami on Nov. 18 and the Los Angeles Clippers were 1 for 12 against Orlando on Oct. 31.

The Bulls went on to win that game. So did the Clippers. And the Heat had the lead at halftime Tuesday.

They had two separate 7-for-8 shooting stretches later in the half, and a 40-point second quarter helped Miami go into the break up 62-59. The lead reached five points in the second half, before Milwaukee rallied.

UP NEXT

Milwaukee: Visit Chicago on Thursday.

Miami: Host Indiana on Thursday, then again on Saturday.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba