Caleb Martin — playing on a two-way contract — boosted a short-handed roster by scoring a career-high 28 points to lead the host Miami Heat to a 113-104 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Miami tied a franchise record with 22 3-pointers, on 47 attempts (46.8 percent).
Kyle Lowry added 22 points and a game-high 13 assists for the Heat. Miami reserve Max Strus contributed 16 points — all of them in the fourth quarter — connecting on 4 of 7 on 3-point attempts.
Miami broke a season-worst, three-game home losing streak despite the absence of Jimmy Butler (tailbone) and Bam Adebayo (thumb), who are two of the team’s top three scorers.
Jrue Holiday led Milwaukee with 27 points. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had a fairly quiet night with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. He made only 4 of 13 shots from the floor.
Milwaukee also got 20 points from Khris Middleton and 18 from Bobby Portis.
Martin, a third-year NBA player, made just his sixth start in the league. The 26-year-old forward, who went undrafted out of Nevada in 2019, hit 9 of 12 shots from the floor, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range.
The Heat also got 15 points, a career-high-tying eight assists and seven rebounds from P.J. Tucker.
Milwaukee, which missed its first seven shots, fell behind 7-0. The Bucks took their first lead of the game at 22-21 on a Rodney Hood three-point play with 2:21 left in the first quarter. By the end of the period, Milwaukee led 26-24.
The Bucks went on a 14-3 run late in the second quarter and got to halftime leading 51-44.
Miami outshot Milwaukee 45.9 percent to 37 percent in the half, but the Bucks made 11 of 13 free throws while the Heat went just 2 of 2.
Lowry scored 16 points in the third quarter, and Miami was up 83-77 entering the final 12 minutes. The Heat outscored Milwaukee 39-26 in the third by shooting 14-for-22 (63.6 percent), including 9-for-15 (60 percent) on 3-point attempts.
Holiday had 13 points in the third to keep the Bucks in the game.
In the fourth quarter, a Bucks turnover and Martin dunk gave Miami a 109-101 lead with 44.2 seconds left, and the Heat cruised from there.
–Field Level Media