Home Basketball Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard Shine with a Combined 65 Points as the Bucks Secure Quarterfinals Berth with a 131-124 Victory over the Heat

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard Shine with a Combined 65 Points as the Bucks Secure Quarterfinals Berth with a 131-124 Victory over the Heat

Basketball — 11/29/2023

Miami (AP) — Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks overcame the Miami Heat 131-124 in the fourth quarter to earn a home quarterfinal date in the NBA In-Season Tournament. The squad prevailed thanks to the 33 points made by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the 32 points from Damian Lillard.

May be a graphic of 4 people, people playing basketball and text that says "LOPEZ UCKS 0 BUCKS 34 BUCKS 22 SIN SEASON TOURNAMENT CLINCHED KNOCKOU ROUNDS"

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A photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo smiling at Bam Adebayo after a dunk.

Khris Middleton scored seventeen points, Malik Beasley scored sixteen, and Brook Lopez scored twelve. The Bucks won East Group B with a 4-0 record.

They will host New York as a wild card on December 4 or 5. Before the Final Four in Las Vegas, Boston, the winner of East Group C, will play Indiana, the winner of Group A, in the other quarterfinal.

Bleacher Report on X: "Giannis (33) and Dame (32) combine for 65 PTS as the Bucks win Group B They will face the Knicks in the knockout round https://t.co/yqxH8B8hhO" / X

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

Jimmy Butler was out with an ankle injury, and Haywood Highsmith was out with a back ailment. Butler led Miami to a five-game series triumph against Milwaukee in the previous season’s playoffs, averaging 37.6 points per game.

Due to a right ankle injury, Pat Connaughton was lost to the Bucks late in the second quarter.

Lowry gave Miami a 118-115 lead with a 3-pointer with 3:25 left, but the Bucks rallied for a 16-6 run to win it. After Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was assessed a technical foul and Richardson was called for a foul, Lillard made three free throws with 1:03 remaining to help put the game out of reach.

The Heat fell behind 15-2 rather soon after missing ten of their first eleven shots. This season, the Los Angeles Clippers were 1 for 12 against Orlando on October 31 while Chicago was 0 for 8 against Miami on November 18. In the first five and a half minutes of the game, the first 11-for-11 start was the third-worst period.

In the end, the Bulls prevailed in that game. And so did the Clippers. And on Tuesday, the Heat were ahead at halftime.

A graphic featuring a photo of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo high-fiving with Bobby Portis in the foreground. Text on the graphic reads, "Bucks 131, Heat 124."

Miami led 62-59 at the half thanks to two different 7-for-8 shooting streaks and a 40-point second quarter. Before Milwaukee could launch a comeback, the gap extended to five points in the second half.