Damian Lillard came up one rebound short of a triple-double, scoring 29 points and dishing 11 assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 125-96 win over the visiting Miami Heat on Thursday night.
Milwaukee was able to make it home in time after not being able to leave New Orleans until 3 p.m. Central time, with the game being delayed by one hour.
Despite not having a normal pregame, Milwaukee won its fifth in a row. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 25 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 21 off the bench, all off 3-pointers.
Without Jimmy Butler due to a two-game suspension, Kel’el Ware led Miami with 22 points and Tyler Herro added 21.
Milwaukee looked like a team that had just gotten off the plane at the start of this one. Miami stormed ahead to an 18-3 lead, with Milwaukee missing 11 of the first 12 shots.
The Bucks then rattled off a big run, making nine shots in a row and eventually finding themselves down just three going into the second quarter, 30-27.
In the second, they quickly grabbed their first lead thanks to Trent’s 3-pointer. Trent hit his first five 3-pointers of the night, all before halftime.
Milwaukee continued to surge and closed out the half on a high note, going on a 15-2 run capped off by a buzzer-beating corner 3-pointer from Lillard.
The offense didn’t stop coming after that for Milwaukee, but the defense stood out in the third quarter. Miami was held to just 19 points in the quarter on 30 percent shooting.
Trent didn’t stop his torrential shooting; he finished with seven 3-pointers, hitting one in the fourth quarter to give Milwaukee an 18-point edge halfway through the fourth.
Later in the fourth, Lillard thought he had secured the triple-double with a rebound, but it was later credited to Brook Lopez.
