NBA Game Summary - Miami at Milwaukee

Milwaukee, WI (Basketball News) - Dwyane Wade led all-scorers with 27 points and added seven assists as the Miami Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 100-83, at the Bradley Center.

Gary Payton netted 20 points and pulled down six rebounds and Shaquille O’Neal added 13 points and six rebounds for the Heat, who have won both of their games since Pat Riley took the coaching job after Stan Van Gundy resigned on Monday. Miami has won its last three games.

Michael Redd scored 24 points and added six assists and T.J. Ford chipped in 17 points and nine assists for the Bucks, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.

The Heat scored the first five points to start the game. However, the Bucks went on a 15-2 run capped off by a Jamaal Magloire dunk with under six minutes left in the opening quarter and the Bucks led 26-18 going into the second stanza.

Miami started the second quarter with a 15-6 run and had a 33-32 lead after Payton hit a jump shot with 7:50 to play until halftime.

The teams exchanged leads several times in the second, but Miami scored seven straight points and had a 47-41 lead with 1:28 to play. However, Redd hit a basket and a free throw in the last minute to cut the Miami lead to 47-44 going into the locker room.

"We got off to a rough start," said Riley. "They had ten layups in the first quarter. After the first quarter we weathered the storm. I thought Jason Kapono gave us a big lift. Wade was on his game tonight. It was a good win."

The Heat continued to increase their lead in the third quarter and held a 12- point advantage after James Posey hit a three-pointer with 5:02 left to make it a 64-52 contest.

The Bucks got back to within six after Ford hit a jumper with 26 seconds left, but Antoine Walker countered with a jumper of his own and the Heat led 72-64 going into the last 12 minutes.

"I thought we gave a good effort," said Bucks coach Terry Stotts. "Certainly I liked the energy we had at the start of the game, but they wore us down a little bit. We relied on the three-point shooting, but that wasn’t there tonight. Obviously that had an effect on the outcome. It’s part of what we do and they didn’t fall tonight."

Miami steadily increased its margin throughout the fourth quarter. The closest Milwaukee got was within nine points after Ford hit a jumper to make it an 89-80 game with 4:02 to play.

However, Udonis Haslem and Wade hit the next two baskets and the Heat cruised the rest of the way to victory.