Final
Bucks top Heat, knocked from playoff race anyway
Apr 7, 2011 - 6:35 AM Miami, FL (Sports Network) - John Salmons scored 17 points and Luc Mbah a Moute added 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks topped the Miami Heat, 90-85, at American Airlines Arena.Corey Maggette scored 14 for the Bucks, who were eliminated from playoff contention despite the win.
Indiana's victory over Washington clinched the final seed in the Eastern Conference for the Pacers, meaning the Bucks will not make a return trip to the playoffs.
"We should have made the playoffs and we didn't. We should be pissed off," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said.
LeBron James paced the Heat with a game-high 29 points and became the youngest player in NBA history with at least 2,000 points in seven straight years.
Chris Bosh added 18 points with seven rebounds but Miami had a three-game winning streak snapped while playing without Dwyane Wade, who missed the game with a deep right thigh bruise he suffered on Sunday.
With the loss, the Heat moved to a half-game behind the idle Boston Celtics for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
James locked up his league milestone with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter when he made a pair from the free throw line, pushing his season scoring total to the 2,000 mark. James, the reigning two-time MVP, became just the eighth player in NBA history to accomplish the feat and the youngest at age 26.
After entering the fourth quarter knotted at 63, the game was tied four times in the stanza, the final time with the first of two Bosh free throws with 3:16 remaining.
Bosh's second gave Miami a lead but Carlos Delfino connected on a three- pointer with 2 1/2 remaining to give the Bucks an advantage they didn't give back.
Milwaukee widened their advantage to 83-79 with a Mbah a Moute tip-shot with 1:46 remaining, and a James layup and 1-of-2 from the line just inside the final minute made it a 83-82 game.
Delfino responded again, connecting on another three-pointer to widen the Bucks' lead to 86-82, and it never fell below three down the stretch as Keyon Dooling and Brandon Jennings both iced pairs from the line in the closing seconds.
"We really had to work for open looks. Execution wasn't where it could be," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Bucks held Miami to 15 points in the first and behind 10 points from Mbah a Moute took a 25-15 lead into the second. The Heat responded in the second, cutting the Milwaukee lead to 45-40 entering the locker room.
James came alive in the third quarter, making 5-of-8 from the field en route to 12 points as the Heat tied the game at 63 entering the final stanza.
Game Notes
Every other player scoring 2,000 points in seven different seasons -- Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Alex English, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Dominique Wilkins -- is already in the Basketball Hall of Fame...James now has 2,027 for the season...Mike Miller grabbed 12 rebounds to go with eight points off the Miami bench...Dooling and Jennings scored 10 and nine points, respectively, in the win.
- MILWAUKEE: 90
MIAMI: 85
Final
Apr 6 10:33 PM - MILWAUKEE: 63
MIAMI: 63
End of 3rd
Apr 6 9:50 PM - MILWAUKEE: 45
MIAMI: 40
Halftime
Apr 6 9:08 PM - MILWAUKEE: 25
MIAMI: 15
End of 1st
Apr 6 8:34 PM - MILWAUKEE: 0
MIAMI: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Apr 6 8:11 PM
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