Bucks 130, Heat 116: Roaring to life in the second half

Bucks center Brook Lopez knocks the ball away from Heat guard Tyler Herro in the first half on Thursday.

 (Photo: Getty Images)

Turns out that it was too early to panic about the Milwaukee Bucks.

Shaking off a lackluster first half, the Bucks secured a 130-116 comeback victory on Thursday over the Miami Heat inside the NBA bubble at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Milwaukee secured the top seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs for the second straight season and also ended its two-game losing streak in the bubble.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton had 33 points apiece to pace the Bucks. 

Miami won the first two matchups this season before the season was interrupted in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Heat and the Denver Nuggets are the only teams to beat the Bucks twice this season.

Milwaukee had its preferred starting lineup – Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Wes Matthews and Brook Lopez – for the first time since the NBA restart at Disney World. That made the team’s slow start in the game very curious.

Miami, which was playing without key players Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic, came out hot against lackadaisical defense from Milwaukee. The Heat shot 52.4% in the first half, including 13 for 24 (54.2%) on three-pointers.

Miami lead by as much as 23 points in the first 24 minutes and became the second straight Milwaukee opponent to score 73 points in the first half.

The Bucks came out of halftime with more defensive urgency, battling back to take the lead at 82-81. The Heat recovered and held a 98-92 advantage into the fourth quarter.

It seemed like Milwaukee would be in trouble when Antetokounmpo picked up his fifth foul with just over 10 minutes remaining, sending him to the bench.

But the Bucks soon ripped off a 13-0 run to take a 107-103 lead.

Antetokounmpo returned with just under six minutes remaining, immediately finding Pat Connaughton for a three-pointer that gave Milwaukee a 110-107 advantage.

Antetokounmpo then threw down a couple highlight dunks that sparked a 20-0 run late in the game to seal the victory.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.