Heat 88 - 77 Bucks
Final
  for this game

Heat finish off sweep of Bucks without Wade

Apr 29, 2013 - 4:14 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - The Heat recorded their first series sweep in the playoffs since LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami.

But the Heat didn't need Wade's services in Game 4 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

James led the way with 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals as Miami took down the Bucks, 88-77, to post the franchise's fourth postseason series sweep.

"He (Wade) gave me the nod saying he wasn't going to go, so I knew I had to pick it up a little more and try to bring us home, bring this win home for us," James said.

Ray Allen and Udonis Haslem added 16 and 13 points, respectively, for Miami, which swept a playoff series for the first time since the 2005 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Bosh tallied 10 points and four blocks.

Wade sat out Sunday's playoff game to rest his bruised right knee. He averaged 13.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists in the first three games of this series.

The Heat will face either Chicago or Brooklyn in the next round. The Bulls lead that series by a 3-1 margin.

Monta Ellis ended with 21 points and eight assists for the Bucks, who haven't won an opening-round playoff series since 2001. Mike Dunleavy and J.J. Redick donated 17 and 10 points, respectively.

"They had the whole package," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. "When you can afford to sit guy like Dwyane Wade and perform at the level they performed at, that's a championship-caliber team."

The Heat never looked back after scoring the game's first six points, using a 7-0 spurt late in the first quarter to create some distance. Allen connected on a pair of shots from the foul line during the run, then hit a 3-pointer to make it a 22-13 contest with 1:26 left in the period.

Dunleavy responded with a personal 4-0 flurry, but James' layup with 20.8 seconds remaining gave Miami a 24-17 lead at the end of the frame.

Trailing 30-19 with 9:45 left in the second quarter, the Bucks put together a 12-4 run to get back into it. Ellis scored the final four points of the surge that got Milwaukee within 34-31 with 5:27 to go in the half.

The Bucks kept it close and cut the gap to two, 43-41, on Redick's layup with 36.9 seconds remaining before intermission. James' layup with 6.1 ticks left gave the Heat a four-point edge at the break.

Miami outscored Milwaukee by a 22-21 margin in the third stanza to take a 67-62 lead into the fourth.

A Dunleavy 3-pointer and Ellis jumper early in the fourth quarter cut the gap to 69-67, but Allen and Mario Chalmers stopped the spurt with consecutive 3- pointers to give Miami a 75-67 lead.

Holding an 80-72 margin midway through the final frame, the Heat went on an 8-0 run to secure the victory.

Game Notes

In the first round of the playoffs during the last two seasons, Miami went up 3-0 but could not close the door in Game 4 ... No team in NBA postseason history has come back to win a series down 3-0 ... Allen went 4-of-7 from beyond the arc ... The Bucks shot 37 percent from the field.






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