Sunday, January 31, 2010

Slow start dooms Miami Heat in loss to Milwaukee Bucks

It had the makings of an off night when Dwyane Wade, creator of many magical Marquette memories in the Bradley Center, got lost on his way back to the Miami Heat's locker room after warm-ups.

It was just as difficult for Wade to find his rhythm on the court against Milwaukee's relentless defense.

Wade missed eight of his first 12 shots, had two turnovers in the first half and picked up his fifth foul midway through the third quarter.

With Wade struggling, Michael Beasley missing his second consecutive game with a knee injury and little support elsewhere, the Heat couldn't keep up in a 95-84 loss to the Bucks.

The Heat trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half, but drew to within 89-84 on Dorell Wright's jumper in the final minute. Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings answered with a three-pointer with 40 seconds left to push Milwaukee (20-25) to its sixth consecutive home victory.

Wade scored 21 points, but was 6 of 20 from the field and limited to 31 minutes because of foul trouble. It was only the fifth time this season he finished with at least five fouls. Two of them were offensive, borne out of frustration for the way he was aggressively defended.

Asked if he was disappointed in the way the game was called, Wade was short and to the point.

``Very,'' said Wade, who played through back spasms throughout the game. ``Very. That's all I'm going to say about that. I was in foul trouble because of some calls. I had to stop.''

Summoning energy on quick turnarounds continues to be an issue for the Heat (24-23), now 2-7 in the second game of back-to-back sets.

Miami couldn't match its effort from Friday's win in Detroit. By the time the Heat got going against the Bucks, it was too late.

Hakim Warrick had 22 points off the bench to lead Milwaukee, which also got 17 apiece from Jennings and Andrew Bogut and 11 from Charlie Bell, who hounded Wade all night.

The Bucks shot 44 percent from three-point range and overcame 17 turnovers and a furious finish by the Heat to get the victory. Jermaine O'Neal had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Quentin Richardson had 16 points and Dorell Wright had 12.

Milwaukee took control in the second quarter, when it outscored the Heat 33-17 and held Miami to only 27.2 percent shooting in the period. The most telling statistic from the period was that the Heat had more fouls (nine) than made baskets (six).

``We were sloppy there in the second quarter,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ``And From there, we just couldn't really get into a rhythm.''

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