Rapid Recap: Bucks 95, Heat 137

Well, you can’t win them all, can you?

Fresh off clobbering the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee was unable to keep its unbeaten streak alive and, unfortunately, the opportunity for the first 82-0 year in league history is cut short by erstwhile playoff foes the Miami Heat.

Where to begin? How about the first quarter? Giannis literally took a single shot (a missed three) that set the tone on the way to a scintillating 17 point quarter. The Bucks would successfully make a grand total of 5 shots in the first 12 minutes which, last time I checked, is not ideal; especially so with the heat streaking to a clean 40 points on 15/26 shooting.

With both Brook Lopez and Jrue Holiday out, it was going to be a tall ask for the likes of Center Giannis and George Hill to contain Miami’s offense in their stead. While Kyle Lowry would go 1-8 from the floor before exiting with a knock, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler combined to go 15-23 and 17 rebounds.

Justin Robinson, God bless him, played enough to rack up a -35 +/-. I mean, what else do you really need to know?

The upside? Mike Budenholzer waved the white flag early on and didn’t feel compelled to try and make a game of it with no starter going beyond 29 minutes played. The downside? Now we’ll never hear the end of how the Heat are the NBA’s Bucks-killers.

Such is life at the top!

Stat That Stood Out

+31

How about that PJ Tucker guy, eh? Fresh off a public declaration that he had “circled this game on the schedule” as one that was must-win for the Heat, the former Buck would drop 8 points (on 3-4 shooting, with 2 made threes) 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. And you know what? I’m happy for the guy. He gets a personal W, the Bucks get to pretend like this game never even happened, and now we’re all even.

On to the Spurs!