Daequan Cook made sure of it. The second-year guard scored a career-high 24 points, burying 6 of 8 three-point attempts.

"I knew," Cook said, "it was going to be a long night for the opponent."

Cook helped propel the Heat to a 102-99 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Heat won its second consecutive game and improved to 3-2 on a season-long seven-game trip.

Cook scored 15 points in his first seven minutes off the bench, and finished 6 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first half.

His performance came a night after teammates ribbed him following a scoreless night on 0-for-3 shooting against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"Were you even at the game?" Cook recalled his teammates teasing.

He made his presence felt against the Bucks. And there was no question the Heat needed a spark.

Wade shot 5 of 20 and finished with 17 points, well below his season average of about 29 points.

"It was a night where every shot I shot, they hit me in the arm," Wade said.

Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles was pleased with his team's defense on Wade, but frustrated that it wasn't enough.

"We were slow to recover to the other guys and slow to recognize that they had a guy that was making multiple threes out there," Skiles said referring to Cook.

ENCOURAGING PLAY

Coach Erik Spoelstra was encouraged by the way the Heat played despite Wade's off-shooting night. Shawn Marion had his second consecutive double-double, scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Udonis Haslem had 18 points and eight rebounds.

"Earlier in the year, I don't know if we win a game when Dwyane shoots 5 of 20," Spoelstra said.

Rookie Michael Beasley had 21 points, his seventh straight game scoring in double figures. Beasley and Cook became only the fourth tandem in franchise history to score at least 20 points off the bench in the same game.

They stepped up on a night starters Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony were off.

They were on the bench to start the second half, and Chris Quinn and Jamaal Magloire played with the starters. In the first half, Chalmers had converted just one of his last 13 shots, and Anthony had no points, one rebound and one blocked shot.

Chalmers finished scoreless for the second time in three games and Anthony wound up with two points.

"I wanted to get a little more size [with Magloire] and Quinny was doing a very good job of getting us organized," Spoelstra said of the lineup change.

COOKING IT UP

But this night belonged to Cook and the Heat finding a way to hold off Milwaukee's late run without relying on Wade's offensive heroics at the end of the game.

"We are starting to smell when it's winning time and our defensive intensity starts to pick up," Spoelstra said.

The Bucks pulled to within two points with 1:26 left, but Shawn Marion blocked Richard Jefferson's shot with 21.3 seconds remaining.

Milwaukee guard Luke Ridnour pulled the Bucks to 100-99 with 9.8 seconds remaining, but Cook drew a foul on rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and hit two free throws to give the Heat its final score.

Down the stretch, the Heat was resilient.

"That's what it's all about," Wade said, "finding another way."

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