Bucks Zone

The Milwaukee Bucks struggle, get crushed by shorthanded Miami Heat

The Bucks crashed back to earth after two impressive wins.

Matthew Dugandzic

© Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
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Just when everybody thought they had started to hum, the Milwaukee Bucks dished out a dismal performance and lost badly to the visiting Miami Heat, 97-123, on Tuesday night.

One night after scoring an impressive 112-95 win over the defending champions Denver Nuggets, the Bucks struggled against the Heat, who led by as many as 31 points despite not having Jimmy Butler, Josh Richardson, and Terry Rozier.

Bucks faltered from the get go

Milwaukee was so dismal that it never led in the match en route to tasting the 26-point loss that snapped its two-game winning streak. The Bucks fell 3-6 under Doc Rivers and 35-20 in the season. It was only Milwaukee’s seventh loss after 30 games at home.

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The Bucks have been praised for their recent strong defensive effort, but couldn’t offer a strong resistance right from the get go and allowed the Heat to score 40 points in the opening period.

Up by 12 after the first quarter, the Heat continued to pummel the Bucks, outscoring the Bucks, 58-48, in the middle periods to build a commanding 98-76 lead into the fourth. The lead ballooned to 108-78 at the 9:47 mark of the fourth as the Heat easily notched their 29th against 25 losses.

Balanced Miami attack

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. He committed five of Milwaukee’s 18 turnovers. Damian Lillard, Bobby Portis Jr., and Malik Beasley scored 16 points each.

Nikola Jovic led the Heat with a career-high 24 points while Bam Adebayo recorded his second triple-double of the season with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 dimes.

Duncan Robinson pitched in 23 points and Tyler Herro and Kevin Love chipped in 19 apiece. Jaime Jaquez Jr. was the sixth Miami player in double figures with 12 points.

Pat Connaughton says the Milwaukee Bucks aren't paying attention to their record under Doc Rivers

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.