NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking points from Milwaukee Bucks vs Miami Heat
The Milwaukee Bucks were down 20 at the half but put together a valiant effort to pull through for a heroic 113-98 come-from-behind win; one they will remember for quite some time. The eighth-seeded Miami Heat might have looked at it as a potential playoff first-round matchup from their perspective, considering Bucks hold on to their No. 1 spot.
Coming into this one, the Bucks had just handed the Pelicans a 17-point beating. This win has now taken them even higher on the East leaderboard, sitting at 52-17(0.754) on the season. They were the first team in the league to officially bag a playoff berth this year and are contenders to spoil Golden State's three-peat dreams without a doubt.
On the other hand, Miami almost became the second team after the Suns this season to beat Milwaukee twice, but couldn't hold on down the stretch. The loss pushed them 19.5 games behind the team they lost to on the standings, now hanging by a thread down at the 8th spot. They now hold a 32-36(0.471) win-loss record on the season, with this being just their second loss in the last seven games.
Let's draw out some major talking points from this resilient win by the mighty Bucks over the ailing Heat side.
#1 Second half comeback by Milwaukee one for the books
The Bucks trailed 62-42 to the Heat at halftime. To put it in simple words, they came out of the break to put together 37 and 34 points in the final two quarters, restricting Miami to just 18 in each.
"To do what we did in the second half, I'm just pleased with the guys the way they were able to flip it,'' Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "Our defense fuels our offense. We want that to be our identity.''
The 23-point comeback was Milwaukee's biggest rally of the season. The Heat shot a miserable 5-of-20 in the third period and the lead was down to one by the start of the final period.
This was only the fifth time in the season that the Bucks found themselves trailing by 20 or more, and they have now two such contests this year.