Gabe Vincent’s Big Night Leads the Miami Heat Past the Milwaukee Bucks, 108-102

The Miami Heat came out on top Thursday night, 108-102, over the Milwaukee Bucks in a close battle.

The Bucks were without all-star players Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton last night, while the Heat had some of their big name players absent including Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro.

For Miami, it was their 23rd victory of the season and puts them a half game back from the Indiana Pacers for the 7th seed in the east.

Gabe Vincent, Bam Adebayo Shine in Heat Victory

Heat point guard Gabe Vincent had his best performance of the season with arguably the best game of his career. He had a career-high 28 points on 10-17 (59%) shooting from the field. He also racked up six assists and two steals. His impact with spreading the floor and shot-creating was vital for the Heat to get their scoring going.

Bam Adebayo had nearly as good of a night with a double-double. He finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. The six-foot-nine-inch tall center led the team in rebounding. He was not alone as two other Heat players put up a double-double. Jimmy Butler finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Max Strus had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

With three starters in double figures for rebounding, Miami out-rebounded Milwaukee 61 to 39 leading to the Heat having more opportunities offensively and ending Bucks’ possessions more quickly.

The Heat were also an impressive 15-16 (93%) from the free throw line. Miami is second in the NBA in team free throw percentage behind only the Boston Celtics.

They also found lots of success scoring inside with 58 points compared to 18 coming from the Bucks.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra on the win and the team as a whole: “We’re (Miami) developing some grit, mental toughness, and stability. We were down 15 and earlier in the season we probably would have been playing catch up the entire game…We stayed stable and just worked the game.”

Bucks´ Starters Lack of Production and Reliance on the Three Hurts Them

While the Heat were more present in the paint, the Milwaukee Bucks were more reliant on the three-point shot. They put up 57 attempts in the game converting 22 of them (39%). However, this reliance was proven to not be as efficient due to their three-point shooters being absent like Middleton.

Bench players Jevon Carter and AJ Green saw lots of threes go in with 11 combined. However, among all the Bucks’ starters, there were just seven three pointers.

Compared to the Miami Heat having four starters in double figures in points, the Bucks had just two in Bobby Portis (12) and Jrue Holiday (24). Holiday had 11 assists as well which means he recorded his 139th career double-double.

The other three Milwaukee starters, Brook Lopez, Pat Connaughton, and rookie sensation MarJon Beauchamp combined for shooting 5-25 (20%) from the field. This lack of production shooting hurt the Bucks and allowed the Heat to break past them for the victory.

Up Next

The Miami Heat now sit with a record of 23-20 following the victory and still are in control of the eastern conference’s eighth seed. There next game is once again against the Milwaukee Bucks at home at FTX Arena on Saturday. Tip-off is at 1:00 p.m. E.T.