NBA Qualifiers: Milwaukee Bucks with Next Show of Strength

The Milwaukee Bucks also won the third match of the first round, against the Miami Heat. After a 113: 84 win in Florida, Giannis Anticonmou is now almost certain in the second round.

Miami Heat (6) – Milwaukee Bucks (3) 84: 113 (Boxcore) Serie A: 0-3

The best player twice managed to backtrack as a goalscorer (17 points, 6/12 FG), but he got 17 rebounds and dealt 5 assists. Other Bucks’ top scorers were Junior Holiday (19, 7/10, 12 assists) and Grays Middleton (22, 8/16), and Brian Forbes and Bobby Portis both fell off the bench with 11 each. Brooke Lopez got 13 points. Milwaukee did not score as efficiently as in Game 2, but it was once again the clearly superior team.

The Bucks dominated the throw rate (48 to 38 percent) as well as bounces (56:41) – but in the end, they were better in nearly every respect. Only Jimmy Butler (19, 7/17, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and Pam Adebayo (17, 7/14) offered some resistance, but without really showing any good performance. Nemanja Bjelica was used late only then had 14 points.

Miami starts off with Dragic, to no avail

As in the 2020 qualifiers, Miami drew its trump card in the backcourt and ordered Goran Dragic to sign Kendrick Nunn at the start, while Bucks kept their usual starting five. The hoped-for effect on foul was not his at first, however, after more than five minutes of play, Miami started with just 4 points. Milwaukee missed some of the Open Trios sets, but was still a 12: 4 lead at this point.

And things didn’t get much better. Just shortly before the quarter’s end, the hosts entered a two-digit range with two three-pointers, especially in the ring, last season’s Eastern champion was unsuccessful against Lopez and Antitokonmou at all. The game quickly recalled one from Game 2, although this time Milwaukee didn’t start anywhere near the hot weather on the outside (4/14 Trio). In contrast, the Bucks accounted for nearly every available bounce. It was 26:14 twelve minutes later.

The second quarter didn’t bring any rhythm to the Heat match either, which benefited at least from the fact that Milwaukee did not play a particularly effective game. However, the strong recess ensured that the gap remained constant, even after Donti DiVensenzo signed with a bruise to his foot. The 16-year-old Butler still struggled a bit, from the rest of the Heat Team, there was shockingly little in the attack. Dragic was already the second-best goalscorer with 5 points – Miami only made 31 percent of the field as a team.