MILWAUKEE -- On the eve of his 20th birthday, Giannis Antetokounmpo provided one final highlight as a teenager.
A monster dunk over Chris Bosh galvanized both the 16,325 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center and the Bucks, as Milwaukee outscored Miami, 42-16, in the final 15 minutes Friday to pull away for a 109-85 win.
"It was big energy for the team," Antetokounmpo said. "It was a momentum play for us. Thank God I was able to get momentum for my teammates with the dunk. We were energized by the dunk and played harder (after that)."
Already on a mini-spurt to take a two-point lead late over the Milwaukee Bucks in the third quarter, the Miami Heat appeared to have an easy fast break layup following a turnover.
But Jerryd Bayless didn't give up on the play. He eventually snatched the ball from Miami's Shabazz Napier and threw a two-handed chest pass down the court to Jabari Parker.
Parker then sucked in Bosh by dribbling to the left elbow before dishing it off to Antetokounmpo, who posterized the Heat forward with a one-handed dunk.
"One, it was a hustle play," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "Guys got back and didn't give up on the play. A two-point layup turned into a three-point play for us. That kind of got us going and got the crowd going. From that point on our defense started to get better, and we started sharing the ball."
Following a timeout called by Heat coach Erik Spolestra, Antetokounmpo sunk the free throw to give the Bucks a 70-69 lead with 2:48 to play in the third quarter. The three-point play started a 21-3 run that allowed the Bucks to seize control of the game.
"Some of the things he can do, not everybody on the team can do," Bucks guard Kendall Marshall said of Antetokounmpo. "When he makes a play like that, it gets our juices going and we want to continue to play hard."
The final 15 minutes of Friday night's game was undoubtedly one of the Bucks' most complete stretches of the season. Miami hit just 4 of its final 17 shot attempts, while Milwaukee shot 64.7 percent in the fourth quarter.
Despite 11 missed shots by Miami in the fourth quarter, the Bucks didn't allow the Heat one second-chance opportunity.
"I think it started with our defense," Kidd said. "Rebounding the ball was one of our concerns after the last two games, especially giving up offensive rebounds. Tonight we made sure they didn't get second or third opportunities.
"From there, we capitalized on the offensive end by sharing the ball. We had multiple guys touching it, trying to cause a problem with our smalls in the post to see if we could get a double team. I thought guys shared the ball and knocked down shots."
With Brandon Knight in foul trouble, Marshall scored 10 of his career-high tying 20 points in the final period. Marshall connected on seven of his eight attempts from the field, including hitting four 3-pointers.
Marshall, who entered having appeared in just nine of Milwaukee's 20 games, was one of six Bucks to finish with double-digit points.
"(Staying ready) is huge part of this league," Marshall said. "Being a professional, you have to wait for your number to be called and be ready to go. But I think we did a tremendous job as a team of being ready, bouncing back from the little skid we had, and I think this is a great way for us to go into this tough stretch we have."
Larry Sanders didn't start Friday and wasn't expected to dress due to an illness, but ended up playing 18 minutes off the bench. Despite Zaza Pachulia being forced to start, Sanders at less than 100 percent and John Henson and Ersan Ilyasova out injured, the Bucks still managed to dominate the glass.
Milwaukee held Miami to just 20 total rebounds, the fewest by a Bucks opponent in franchise history. The Bucks finished with 45 rebounds, more than doubling the Heat's output.
Rebounding has been an issue for the Bucks all season, which made Friday night's performance on the glass even more impressive.
"When we have time to talk about different things, when it isn't a back-to-back situation and we can concentrate on a topic, we address it and carry it over to the next night," Kidd said. "We didn't want to give Miami second and third opportunities. The guys followed through with the game plan."
Pachulia led the Bucks with eight rebounds, but Milwaukee's guards combined for 21 rebounds Friday, one more than Miami had as a team.
"The guards have put a lot of pressure on the bigs by not helping them enough as of late," Bayless said. "The bigs took control tonight and we tried to clean up the little ones. They did an amazing job. We need them to do that every night."
After the Bucks started their rugged December schedule by letting a pair of close games slip away late, Milwaukee took advantage of a momentum play Friday to turn a tight game into a blowout.
"We have to find a way to do that for 48 minutes consistently," Marshall said. "That's what the great teams do in this league and that's what we're striving to be."
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