NBA: Heat burn Bucks in second half

The Miami Heat turned up the temperature on the Milwaukee Bucks in the second half en route to a 110-87 beatdown, Sunday (Monday, PHL time) at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, in the first game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoffs series.

Up by just seven at the break, 52-45, despite holding the visiting Bucks to 38.8 percent shooting, the reigning NBA champions found their rhythm after Monta Ellis began the second half with a triple that made it 52-48, 25 seconds in.

Mario Chalmers countered with a floater, and then Dwyane Wade tipped in his own miss. Chalmers added a steal, leading to LeBron James finding Chris Bosh for a corner triple. After forcing the Bucks into a miss, Bosh then got two free throws, to complete a 9-0 run, which gave the Heat their first double-digit lead, 61-48.

A lay-up by rookie John Henson off a Monta Ellis find, followed by a score from Ellis himself, got Milwaukee within eight, 73-65, 2:28 left in the third. However, the Bucks would proceed to go scoreless over the remainder of the quarter, with back-to-back Chris Andersen dunks and a split at the line by James allowing the Heat to match their biggest lead up to that point, 80-65.

In the fourth, the Bucks got within 13 twice, 82-69, and 86-73. However, the Heat broke the game wide open with 10 unanswered, putting them up 96-73, six minutes left in the game. Milwaukee drew triples from Mike Dunleavy and Brandon Jennings, but James and Wade matched their production, restoring their 23-point edge, 102-79.

Despite three charities and a triple from JJ Redick, the lead was large enough for Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra to start subbing out his starters, as Miami took this one with ease.

LeBron James submitted another eye-popping performance, with 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Dwyane Wade added 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Chris Bosh provided 15 points, seven rebounds, two dimes and two blocks.

Ray Allen also came off the Heat bench for 20 points, while Chris Andersen provided 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Bucks drew 26 points from Brandon Jennings, albeit on 8-of-20 shooting. Monta Ellis added 22, but they were the only players in double-digit scoring. Trade deadline acquisition JJ Redick scored just six, all in the fourth quarter, while center Larry Sanders battled foul trouble, to finish with a mere six points and five rebounds.

The Heat shot 55.9 percent form the field, won the rebounding category (46-31) and assists battle (22-14). In the second half, Miami got a 30-14 advantage in points in the paint, and a whopping 16-0 difference in second-chance points. - AMD, GMA News