HHH GameTime Preview: Miami Heat Vs. Milwaukee Bucks

The Miami Heat will host the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at the AAA, at 7:30 PM EDT in the first of three contests between them this season. The Bucks will host Miami on March 29th, with a return to Miami on April 2nd. After falling below .500, Miami had won three straight before losing at home to the Boston Celtics, 111-110 on Saturday night. They'll complete their four game homestand on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks.

Milwaukee has alternated wins and losses through their first five this season. They are coming off a 1-2 homestand where they lost to the Toronto Raptors, 97-90, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-104, and lost to the Mavericks 91-83. After tonight's matchup, they'll face the Magic in Orlando tomorrow and play the Pacers in Indiana on Friday.

The last time these two faced off, Miami had the Bucks down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on April 28th. LeBron James scored a game high 30 points with eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Ray Allen scored 16 off the bench, including four three-pointers with seven boards, and Udonis Haslem hit six-of-nine from the floor for 13 points with five rebounds. The Bucks were led by Monta Ellis with 21 points in a losing effort as Miami advanced to the Conference Semifinals with an 88-77 victory. * Full Recap * Box Score

Miami Heat Vs Milwaukee Bucks - NBA Playoffs 2013 Game 4 - Full Highlights 4/28/13 (via NBASeasonPlayoffs)

Later on, James talked about the Dwyane Wade-less HEAT's still-impressive depth:

They made a run. From that point we were just able to execute. I was able to find Ray, find Shane (Battier). I was also able to find 'Rio' (Mario Chalmers), too, to put us up seven (actually eight) when they made their run. It's good to have the type of depth that we have where I can kind of draw two defenders and be able to find the shooters.

Read more about the Bucks at Brew Hoop.

Miami's last game would see the HEAT get surprised by the Celtics 111-110 on Saturday night. James led six HEAT
players in double digits with 25 points (nine-of-13) with 10 assists and eight rebounds. Chris Bosh scored 20 points
with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks, and Dwyane Wade pitched in with 18 points and seven assists. Michael
Beasley scored 10 points in just eight minutes off the bench. The Celtics were led by 24 points by Jeff Green, including
a falling-out-of-bounds, desperation three-point attempt with 0.6 seconds left in the game, a shot which he made, by the
way. * Full Recap * Box Score

NBA CIRCLE - Boston Celtics Vs Miami Heat Highlights 9 Nov. 2013 www.nbacircle.com (via NBACIRCLETODAY)

When asked about the winning play, Celtics coach Brad Stevens understated the obvious:

I had that play written down, but I have never run it before.

Go to CelticsBlog for a greener point of view.

In Milwaukee's last game, also Saturday night, the Bucks dropped a 91-83 decision to the Mavericks. Ex-Mav OJ Mayo
led the losing effort for Milwaukee with a game high 28 points, also grabbing six rebounds. Ex-HEAT standout Caron
Butler scored 19 with 13 boards. For the Mavs, ex-Buck Monta Ellis scored 18, Dirk Nowitzki scored 16, Shawn Marion
pitched in with 14 and 10 rebounds, and Vince Carter came off the bench for 13 (average age of these four, 34 years old).

Dallas Mavericks vs Milwaukee Bucks | Full Highlights | November 9, 2013 | NBA 2013-14 Season (via NBACalifornia)

Bucks coach Larry Drew spoke about Mayo's first game against his former team:

Guys definitely do get jacked up for it," Bucks coach Larry Drew said. "When you're going against your old team,
you play to try to prove something. Sometimes it can work for you, sometimes it can work against you.

Mavs Moneyball has all the Mavericks you can stand.

Game Time: 7:30 PM ET

Broadcast: LEAGUE PASS, SNET360, SunSpM, FSN Wisconsin

Radio: NBA Game Time Audio, WAXY, AM 620 WTMJ

All-Time Series: These teams have met 91 times over the last 25 seasons, with Miami holding a 57-34 edge for a .626 winning percentage.

Season Series: First of three meetings

Standings:

Miami Heat: 4-3, .571, on pace for a 47-35 season. First in the Southeast Division, tied for second in the Eastern Conference, tied for seventh in the NBA. Last Five: l w w w l.

Milwaukee Bucks: 2-3, .400, on pace for a 33-49 season. Tied for third in the Central Division, tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference, tied for 22nd in the NBA. Last Five: l w l w l.

HEAT Milestones:

Player	Rank/Games	Rank/Points	Rank/Boards	Rank/Assists	Rank/Steals	Rank/Blocks
Allen	74 86	56 940	78 240	61 158	59 72	75 16
Andersen	109 49	104 251	87 196	133 20	104 19	47 50
Anthony	11 372	59 906	16 1,172	81 88	37 108	4 453
Battier	50 144	61 817	66 334	60 161	38 107	23 91
Beasley	41 161	21 2,295	23 937	56 183	34 121	24 87
Bosh	24 214	13 3,806	12 1,634	30 376	23 178	12 204
Chalmers	10 373	15 3,147	24 870	5 1,356	5 558	47 50
Cole	45 152	58 933	78 240	39 317	39 105	100 10
Haslem	1 675	8 5,972	1 5,172	18 643	9 380	11 217
James	22 224	7 6,001	11 1,733	4 1,548	10 373	15 169
Jones	18 246	49 1,035	65 338	74 112	60 71	42 52
Lewis	96 61	98 311	103 130	105 42	97 24	84 14
Mason	199 1	188 3	198 0	175 2	185 0	174 0
Oden	201 0	201 0	198 0	190 0	185 0	174 0
Wade	2 671	1 16,574	4 3,391	1 4,080	1 1,195	2 671

Today in HEAT history

Miami is 6-7 when playing on November 12th.

1992 - Pistons 95, Heat 88
1993 - Heat 115, Magic 100
1994 - Bullets 109, Heat 99
1996 - Heat 105, Hornets 97
1999 - Heat 104, Wizards 95
2002 - Clippers 101, Heat 82
2003 - Heat 88, Cavaliers 83
2004 - Spurs 93, Heat 84
2005 - Heat 105, Bobcats 89
2006 - Rockets 94, Heat 72
2008 - TrailBlazers 104, Heat 96
2009 - Cavaliers 111, Heat 104
2012 - Heat 113, Rockets 110

Birthdays

Detroit Piston Corey Maggette turns 34 today, OKC Thunder all-star Russell Westbrook turns 25.

Starting Lineups

HEAT

PG - Mario Chalmers
PF - LeBron James
C - Chris Bosh
SF - Shane Battier
SG - Dwyane Wade

Bucks

PG - Nate Wolters
PF - Ersan Ilyasova
C - Larry Sanders
SF - Caron Butler
SG - OJ Mayo

HEAT Leaders

Points: LBJ - 24.4, DWade - 20.2, BOSH - 18.5
Rebounds: BOSH - 6.7, LBJ - 5.9, DWade - 4.5
Assists: LBJ - 8.0, DWade - 5.2, Rio - 5.0
Steals: Rio - 2.3, DWade - 2.0, LBJ, RayRay - 0.7
Blocks: BOSH - 1.5, Birdman - 0.9, DWade - 0.7
PER: LBJ (261 minutes) - 26.5, BOSH (192 minutes) - 22.9, DWade (210 minutes) - 20.1, RayRay (194 minutes) - 17.6, Rio (197 minutes) - 17.1

Trends

Over his last four games, Chris Andersen has made 12-of-15 shots for 34 points with 15 boards and four blocked shots.

Mario Chalmers has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season, and is shooting 58.3% from that distance (14-for-24).

After making his first four three-pointers of the season, Shane Battier missed his next 14 from outside. Since then, he has sunk four of his last seven attempts.

Udonis Haslem has scored 18 points with 15 rebounds in 96 minutes this season. He also has 13 personal fouls.

Thank you for reading your HHH game preview. For more on the Bucks, head over to Brew Hoop. Come back to us for the Game Thread, going live at 6:30 PM for a 7:30 tipoff.