Bucks visit South Beach to face Heat

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Miami Heat will try to end a two-game funk Sunday evening when they return home to American Airlines Arena to face the Milwaukee Bucks.

The four-time reigning Eastern Conference champions fell at home to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, then lost on the road to fellow Southeast Division rivals, the Atlanta Hawks, on Friday night.

Eight Atlanta players scored in double figures for the 114-103 victory.

Mario Chalmers led the Heat with 23 points to go along with 11 assists, Shawne Williams had 21 points and Chris Bosh finished with 20 points with eight rebounds. Chalmers played a bigger role for Miami because Dwyane Wade rested his sore right knee and his recently strained left hamstring.

"We scored enough to give ourselves the chance to win," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Luol Deng finished with 19 points in the loss. He is eight points shy of 11,000 for his career. Josh McRoberts missed the game with a blister and is expected to be ready Sunday.

Wade is listed as questionable on Sunday, but is in the team's starting lineup according to pregame notes.

The Bucks had a two-game winning streak halted Friday night with a 101-85 road drubbing at the hands of the Orlando Magic. Milwaukee had knocked off the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder at home, but the streak died in the Magic Kingdom.

Brandon Knight provided 24 points, six boards and five assists, while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 19 points and seven rebounds for Milwaukee, which has lost 17 straight at Orlando.

"It doesn't matter what I did on the court, what matters is if we win," said Antetokounmpo. "We have to keep at it because we're going in the right direction."

John Henson scored 10 off the bench.

The Bucks didn't get much from their starting unit either. Other than Knight, the starting group of Jabari Parker, Ersan Ilyasova, Larry Sanders and Jared Dudley combined for 20 points.

Milwaukee, which shot 2-for-19 from 3-point range, completes this Florida trip, then host the New York Knicks on Tuesday before hitting the road for two more.

The Heat have won five straight regular-season games against the Bucks, and, including the postseason, six in a row in South Beach.