October 31st – Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points and Damian Lillard added 25 as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the visiting Miami Heat 122-114.

The Bucks’ bench was extremely crucial in this game, especially in the first half. Bobby Portis had 16 points (14 in the first half), Cameron Payne had 11 points, and Milwaukee’s bench outscored Miami’s 30-6 in the first half before the Heat backups returned the favor in the second half, outscoring the Bucks bench 45-43.

Tyler Herro led the Heat with 35 points and eight rebounds in his home state of Wisconsin, while Jimmy Butler, who returned after missing Saturday’s game in Minnesota due to rest, added 13 points.

Milwaukee led by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter, but Miami was able to stage a comeback with a 13-2 run that cut their deficit to nine with less than five minutes remaining.

The Heat cut the deficit to six points, but Milwaukee took over from there with Antetokounmpo’s layup and an alley-oop assist to Brook Lopez, who finished the layup to put the Bucks up 11 and put the game out of reach.

This was also Lillard’s first game versus the Heat after requesting a trade to Miami this offseason and getting assigned to Milwaukee instead. Following a game in which he only scored six points, he added four assists and five rebounds to his 25 points.

The Bucks have won each of the last seven regular-season meetings against Miami at home after the clubs split the season series the previous two seasons, not including the Heat’s five-game series win in the first round of the playoffs last season.