The Milwaukee Bucks faced off against an undermanned Miami Heat side on Tuesday night. Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Josh Richardson were all out of commission due to respective issues/injuries, which meant that the rest of the squad had to step up in a major way if Miami wanted to stand a chance against the mighty Bucks.
Well, the Heat did just that — and then some.
Heat Stud Nikola Jovic Stunned Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee was coming off back-to-back wins heading into Tuesday’s bout. They blew out the defending champs Denver Nuggets on Monday by slowing down two-time MVP Nikola Jokic. The Bucks, however, failed in to put a similar effort the following night against Heat youngster Nikola Jovic.
The second-year forward torched the Bucks with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, a steal, and zero turnovers in 30 minutes of play.
Jovic got hot from beyond the arc, going 5-of-8 from distance. After their 123-97 blowout loss, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers admitted that his team just didn’t show the young man the respect he deserved as a shooter:
“We just didn’t get up on him enough,” Rivers said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Listen, he made shots and that’s what he does. Another young guy that knows how to play.”
Defensive Woes
It just wasn’t just Jovic who got hot for Miami in this one, though. Duncan Robinson, Kevin Love, and Tyler Herro combined for 14 triples between them, which just goes to show how much Milwaukee struggled to defend the 3-point line.
“It’s funny, just watching the difference,” Rivers said postgame. “Like we got 10 blown-up dribble handoffs where we tried to do it and they blew them up. On theirs, we were late on every single one of them, it felt like. And we want Brook (Lopez), as an example, in a drop, but if you’re in a drop and our guards are behind late, then you’re in trouble and I thought that happened over and over. Even the pick-and-roll, same thing.”
Needless to say, the Bucks’ defense struggled mightily against the Heat on Tuesday night.
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