3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ thrilling victory over Miami Heat

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Big 3 helped ignite some clutch heroics late to defeat the Miami Heat

It is no coincidence that the Bucks have an excellent record when they have the star-studded trio of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton all out on the floor. They were once again fantastic last night by combining to tally 79 points, 27 rebounds, and 19 assists. While their all-around numbers were gaudy, it is what this trio did throughout the fourth quarter that helped them ultimately secure the comeback win that stood out.

Entering the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo had only scored 14 points, as the Heat pestered him every single time he touched the ball. However, the Greek Freak flipped the switch and doubled his output by scoring 14 more in the period to finish with 28. Perhaps the most compelling buckets of the night for Antetokounmpo came at the free throw line with less than two minutes left to play, where he knocked down all four of his attempts smoothly. That goes without mentioning his keen awareness to tie up Miami’s Jimmy Butler to force a jump-ball in the closing seconds that led to a clutch game-winning bucket on the other end for Milwaukee.

Middleton, who had himself a great game, came up clutch as he buried a pull-up 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds remaining to pull the Bucks within one point. It was Middleton’s first made basket of the period as he had been struggling up to that point with a handful of misses, and it undoubtedly came at a great time. After Middleton made it a one-point game, Holiday one-upped him by hitting the game-winning layup off the glass. Including that bucket, Holiday scored seven points over the final four and half minutes of action while playing some robust defense on top of it.

Trailing by 10 points with five minutes to go, things did not look good for the Bucks. However, the Big 3 showed off their resiliency by battling back and bringing this team back from the point of no return with a feel-good win that should spark some life into them moving forward. This team has had their issues in the clutch lately, letting one slip in a recent game against the Brooklyn Nets, so seeing them pull off such a comeback this time around was beyond refreshing.

The Bucks will have another Eastern Conference showdown this Friday as they visit a familiar foe in the Chicago Bulls in a matchup that should have no shortage of fireworks. Be sure to catch the action at 6:30 p.m. CST on ESPN.