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 Wednesday was no different, as head coach Jason Kidd moved Greg
Monroe back into the starting five while relegating Miles Plumlee
back to the bench.
The move paid off, as Plumlee hit 8 of 12 shots and scored 18 points
as the Bucks rallied down the stretch for a 114-108 victory over the
Miami Heat at the Bradley Center.
"Sometimes, we try to take a step back and try to not put an
emphasis on starting," Kidd said. "You just play your minutes. Miles
played the same way as he did when he was starting."
Plumlee and Monroe had switched places 12 games ago as Kidd tried to
add some punch to his bench, which had been plagued by injuries and
general ineffectiveness.
Both players responded well to the move, especially Plumlee, who
averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds in 19.1 minutes a night.
He wasn't the only reserve to step up in a big way for Milwaukee.
Little-used point guard Tyler Ennis was pressed into action thanks
to the season-ending injury to Michael Carter-Williams and a stomach
virus that kept O.J. Mayo away Wednesday night.
He scored eight points with five assists in 25 minutes of work and
had five in the fourth quarter as the Bucks re-took the lead and
pulled away for the victory.
"We needed it tonight," said Khris Middleton, who finished with 22.
"Those guys have been working hard all year long. They finally got a
chance to play some minutes and really produced out there for us."
The Bucks held an eight-point lead early in the third quarter before
Miami got on a little bit of a roll and grabbed the lead on a hook
shot by Luol Deng that made it a 76-74 game with 3:49 left in the
quarter.
Deng scored 11 of his 20 in the third and added seven more in the
final quarter, but Milwaukee answered and tied the game at 89 on a
Middleton jumper with 8:15 remaining.
Wade found Deng open in the corner to put the Heat back up three,
but a bucket and two free throws by Plumlee put Milwaukee back in
front.
A layup by Giannis Antetokounmpo pushed the lead to five with 6:07
remaining and Milwaukee held on for the victory.
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"I don't think they really knew what they wanted to do with me and
Giannis in the pick-and-roll, so it worked out for us," said
Middleton.
"It's something that we've been doing lately with smaller guys
guarding me and him, so it's been working for us."
Miami and Milwaukee both shot 52.5 percent from the field, hitting
an identical 42 of 80 shots.
And while the Heat outperformed from beyond the arc, hitting 6 of 15
compared to 4 of 8 for Milwaukee, the Bucks held an advantage at the
free-throw line, making 26 of 37 while Miami made just 18 in 19
trips, and also capitalized on second-chance points, scoring 19 off
12 offensive rebounds.
But Miami's good shooting was nullified by carelessness; Milwaukee
forced 17 turnovers which the Bucks flipped for 23 points.
"They had 66 paint points, we had 60. They beat us at the line. They
beat us in second chance points," said Dwyane Wade, who scored 18
but was forced to play with four fouls for much of the final
quarter.
"But as a team, we had just too many turnovers."
Josh Richardson hit three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points
while Hassan Whiteside scored 23 off the bench to lead Miami, which
had its five-game winning streak snapped.
The Bucks got 24 from Antetokounmpo and 23 from Jabari Parker while
Monroe finished with 10 and eight rebounds.
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