LAS VEGAS (AFP) — An understrength Miami Heat thrashed the struggling Milwaukee Bucks, 123-97, while Jayson Tatum scored a 41-point double-double as the Boston Celtics cruised past the Brooklyn Nets in the National Basketball Association regular season.
Miami shrugged off the injury absences of Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson to produce a shooting clinic in a one-sided rout on the road at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
Nikola Jovic led the Miami scorers with 24 points including five three-pointers while Duncan Robinson poured in six threes in his 23-point haul.
Miami went 19-of-40 from outside the arc, with six players finishing in double figures.
Veteran Kevin Love also got into the shooting groove, making five three-pointers off the bench to finish with 19 points in what was a wire-to-wire win for Milwaukee.
But the defeat left recently installed Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers with plenty to ponder as his team prepares for the All-Star break.
Rivers took charge last month after the shock dismissal of predecessor Adrian Griffin, with the brief of helping improve Milwaukee’s defense.
Yet it was another porous display by the Bucks, who struggled to build any kind of momentum against a well-organized Miami unit.
“Speed, pace — they were quicker on everything at both ends,” Rivers said after the loss.
