MIAMI _ Well, what do you know? A three-game winning streak. Even as the incredibly shrinking roster continues to shrink.
On a night Dion Waiters was given additional ballhandling responsibilities to compensate for the latest roster blow, a shoulder injury for Tyler Johnson, the Miami Heat moved to 3-0 on their four-game homestand with a 109-97 victory Saturday night over the Milwaukee Bucks at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The ultimate challenge, though, awaits, with the Golden State Warriors next up, on Monday night.
By then, who knows who might still be ambulatory for the Heat? Saturday brought word that Johnson would be sidelined by a strained left shoulder, the same shoulder that had him sidelined for more than half of last season.
Into that void stepped Waiters, who scored 33, to eclipse his previous season high of 28 points and tie the career high he reached while a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015.
With Goran Dragic continuing his recent hot streak with 25 points and Hassan Whiteside contributing 16 points and 15 rebounds, the Heat added on to the victories earlier in the week over the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
In addition to Johnson being out, the Heat remained without sidelined Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Josh McRoberts and Chris Bosh.
The Bucks were led by the 24 points and 15 rebounds of All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, as Milwaukee's losing streak reached five.
While the Heat again opened with a lineup of Whiteside, Waiters, Dragic, Rodney McGruder and Luke Babbitt, the rotation was altered in the absence of Johnson, with Waiters cast in more of a ballhandling role and guard Wayne Ellington given additional minutes. The Heat also again played D-League call-up Okaro White ahead of Derrick Williams, as also was the case in Thursday's victory.
Ellington closed with 15 points off the bench, his 3-of-9 3-point shooting helping the Heat close 13 of 30 from beyond the arc.
The Bucks also shuffled their approach.
Forward Jabari Parker, a front-runner for Most Improved Player, was held out of the first quarter for what coach Jason Kidd said before the game was a team violation. That had 2016 first-round pick Thon Maker making his first start. Parker scored 16 points in his 32 minutes.
The Bucks also went away from rookie revelation Malcolm Brogdon and returned point guard Matthew Dellavedova to their starting lineup. Dellavedova scored 15.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd entered aware of the Heat recent upgrade.
"We know the Heat, no matter their record, they're going to play hard for 48 minutes," he said going in.
The Bucks moved within eight midway through the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer from Ellington pushed the Heat back to a 98-86 lead. The shot lifted the Heat to 10 of 27 on 3-pointers to that stage. A 3-pointer with 2:33 to play then pushed Waiters to a season scoring high, giving the Heat a 103-91 lead.
What had been a 12-point Heat lead was trimmed to six midway through the third period before consecutive 3-pointers from McGruder and Dragic pushed the lead back to 12 on the way to 14 in the period.
The Heat went into the fourth quarter up 82-71, with Waiters at 27 points at that stage, Whiteside already with a double-double, at 11 points, 11 rebounds.
With Waiters scoring 20 points in the first half, his highest-scoring half of the season, the Heat took a 53-43 lead into the intermission. Whiteside was up to 10 points and eight rebounds at that stage.
The Heat led 25-22 at the end of the opening period, with Waiters scoring 10 in the period.
This was the third game of a four-game season series that concludes Feb. 8 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The Heat won the first meeting 96-73 Nov. 17 at AmericanAirlines Arena, behind 23 points from Waiters. The Bucks then won 116-108 a week ago at home, paced by 24 points from Parker.
The Bucks entered having won seven of the previous nine meetings, as well as three of the previous four meetings at AmericanAirlines Arena
The Heat caught the Bucks on the second night of a back-to-back set, coming off Friday night's 112-96 road loss to the Orlando Magic.
