Miami Heat vs Milwaukee Bucks (88 - 78) December 6, 2010

Dwyane Wade has 25 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Heat over the Bucks. Heat-Bucks notebook By Rick Braun, for NBA.com Posted Monday December 6, 2010 11:58PM THE FACTS: Dwyane Wade scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the arena where he starred in college, and Carlos Arroyo added a season-high 18 points to lead the Miami Heat to their fifth straight victory, an 88-78 decision over the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night at the Bradley Center. LeBron James and Chris Bosh added 17 and 16 points respectively for the Heat (14-8). QUOTABLE: "That's what it's about and that (defense) is the identity of the team. Offensively we can't control if the ball is going to go in or not. We can execute great, but it the ball doesn't go in the basket we still have to get the stops. Our whole mentality when it was 78-71 was if they don't score another basket and we don't score, then we win the ball game." Wade on Miami's defense, which held the Bucks to 34.6 percent (27 for 78) shooting. THE STAT: Twice the Bucks made runs, and both times the Heat repelled them with defense. After the Bucks tied the game at 25-25 on a jumper by Larry Sanders, the Heat forced Milwaukee to miss 13 of its next 14 shots and commit six turnovers during a 17-2 run. When Milwaukee pulled within 74-71 on Ersan Ilyasova's jumper with 6:29 left, the Heat forced the Bucks to miss their next nine shots and pulled away on baskets by James and Wade. TURNING POINT: Ilyasova's jumper pulled the Bucks within 74-71, forcing the Heat to call a timeout. From that point on, Brandon Jennings missed a 3-pointer, Corey Maggette missed a drive, Andrew Bogut missed a tip, Jennings missed a dunk attempt, Ilyasova missed a 3-pointer, Maggette had his driving attempt blocked by James, John Salmons missed a 3-pointer, and Jennings and Ilyasova missed jumpers. Those nine straight misses came over a span of 3:59, and the Bucks were looking at an 80-71 deficit by the time they scored again. QUOTABLE II: "There was a mental toughness to this win for us that I'm not sure we would have been able to pull this out earlier in the year. Things did not necessarily go our way over the course of the game and we didn't allow our frustration or dislike for the flow of the game to affect what really mattered." -- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra HOT: Arroyo made all six of his shots from the field -- including two 3-pointers -- and all four of his free throws for his 18 points. NOT: Bogut finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds but made just 4 of 12 from the field after going 13 for 20 on Saturday night. INSIDE THE ARENA: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and eight of his teammates were in courtside seats. ROOKIE WATCH: Sanders threw down a highlight-reel dunk in the third quarter off a lob pass from Jennings, followed that by forcing Wade into an air-ball at the other end and then scored off a rebound on the ensuing fast break to cap a 10-2 run and pull the Bucks within 51-45. Sanders finished with 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks in his fifth straight start. NOTABLE: In shooting just 34.6 percent on the night, the Bucks (7-13) have now shot under 40 percent in 11 of their 20 games this season. They also shot exactly 40 percent in another game and are shooting a rounded-up 40 percent for the season (39.98). "It's very difficult to win when we're shooting the ball like that," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. UP NEXT: For the Heat, Wednesday @ Utah, Friday @ Golden State, Saturday @ Golden State. For the Bucks, Wednesday vs. Indiana, Friday vs. Houston, Monday @ Dallas.