Miami Heat seem to have Milwaukee Bucks’ number. Heat faced the Bucks on Monday night and captured a convincing 105-89 victory. With this win, Miami handed out Milwaukee only their ninth defeat of the season and became the only team to beat them twice in 2019/20.
The Heat was led by All-Star Bam Adebayo, who had a well-rounded game and finished the night with 14 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. But his arguably most impactful effort came on the defensive end of the ball.
Adebayo played some stellar defense on Bucks’ superstar and MVP frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo, holding him to just 13 points and forcing him to take a number of bad shots. Antetokounmpo finished the night shooting 1 out of 10 when guarded by Adebayo.
“[Antetokounmpo is] a handful when he’s running at you full speed,” said Adebayo. “I feel like we did a good job containing him in transition. I feel like that’s where he gets his flow in when he gets in transition, and I thank my teammates for not leaving me one-on-one.”
Besides containing Antetokounmpo, Miami also profited from a high percentage of made 3-pointers, making 18 threes compared to Milwaukee’s’ seven. Six of Heat’s players finished in double digits, including Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder, who each scored 18.
Bucks, on the other side, saw Brook Lopez score 21 while no other of their players managed to get past 13-points mark.
Milwaukee Bucks still remain first in the East, having the league’s best 52-9 record. Miami Heat have a 39-22 record, enough for the fourth seed.
