MILWAUKEE — Giannis Anteotkoumpo scored 24 points, Jabari Parker added 23 and the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 114-108 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center.
Antetokounmpo made 9 of 15 shots from the field for the Bucks, who shot 52 percent from the floor and hit 4 of 8 3-pointers while going 26 of 37 from the free throw line.
Milwaukee also got 20 points from Khris Middleton and 18 from Mason Plumlee. Greg Monroe, who moved back into the starting lineup, finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points off the bench to lead Miami, which also got 20 from Luol Deng and 18 from Dwyane Wade.
The Heat, which had won five in a row coming into the game, also shot well (51.9 percent from the field) but gave up 23 points on 17 turnovers and 19 second-chance points on Milwaukee’s 12 offensive rebounds.
After starting slowly in their last two games, the Bucks set the pace quickly, hitting 12 of their first 19 attempts from the floor and shooting 59 percent in the first half.
Miami got 12 in the half from Wade, but Middleton’s 14 and Antetokounmpo’s 13 sent Milwaukee into intermission with a 57-54 lead.
Deng scored 11 points in the third quarter, hitting 5 of 6 from the field, as the Heat rallied and led by as many as seven before the Bucks answered and tied the score at 89 on a Middleton jumper with 8:15 remaining.
Wade found Deng open in the corner to put the Heat back up three, but a bucket and two free throws by Plumlee put Milwaukee back in front. A layup by Antetokounmpo pushed the lead to five with 6:07 remaining.
NOTES: C Greg Monroe returned to Milwaukee’s starting lineup. He spent the last 12 games in a reserve role as coach Jason Kidd looked to add some punch to a bench unit decimated by injuries and ineffectiveness. During that stretch, Monroe averaged 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in 29.7 minutes of work. In 50 games as a starter, Monroe scored 16.5 points with 9.6 rebounds in 30.4 minutes. … Since joining the Heat on Feb. 27, F Joe Johnson has averaged 14.0 points on 60.4 percent shooting while hitting 8 of 12 3-point attempts before Wednesday. … Miami brought a five-game winning streak into the game and began the day a season-high 11 games over .500. … Wednesday marked the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, who split the first two games.