At the start of the ball game, things were ever so familiar, the Bucks were doing everything right on offense, and the Heat were doing everything wrong on defense. Milwaukee made 6 three pointers in the first half and trailed Miami by only 5 points at the end of the 2nd quarter. That’s when Erik Spoelstra instilled the theme of identity and team defense into the Heat players and they responded with a vengeance.
When a reporter asked Dwyane Wade what the game plan was offensively in the second half, Wade responded with, “Give LeBron the ball.” In the 3rd quarter, Miami Heat superstar LeBron James caught fire. He shot a blistering 70% from the field on a wide array of jump shots, post up moves, and dunks, highlighted by a one-footed take off from just behind the dotted line, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. Number 6 finished the ball game with 35 points to lead all scorers and his 16-21 shooting display was the highest field goal percentage he had ever shot in his career, with a minimum of 20 shot attempts. When asked about his 3rd quarter pandemonium, James replied with just simply, “I know what happened the third quarter the last time we played here.”
Meanwhile, James’ fellow running mate Dwyane Wade had another fantastic game finishing with 22 points on 8-14 shooting, doing most of his damage in the first half. It was a career night for Wade in the sense that he had made 27 straight freethrow’s until that streak was snapped in the 2nd quarter. Both Dwyane and LeBron have mentioned before that they love playing on the road because it brings the team closer together and playing as a unit, which translates into their last four road victories. In Miami’s last four road wins, they beat the Sixers by 20 points, the Wizards by 17 points, the Hawks by 20 points, and the Bucks by 18 points. Hopefully, the Heat don’t get too caught up with the way they are dismantling their road opponents as of late because tomorrow they face the feisty Indiana Pacers to complete their 3 game in 3 nights.
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