Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said late-game execution and shot volume decided the outcome after the team’s 112-105 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday at Kaseya Center.
“We didn’t execute great down the stretch. Bottom line,” Rivers said after the game. “I thought I loved how we played overall… but we had two or three turnovers in that stretch, tough couple tough shots.”
Milwaukee briefly closed the gap late, but Miami finished the final minutes stronger to secure its seventh straight victory. Rivers emphasized that the margin came down to small details.
“It was a game of margins,” he said. “They beat us by five in the three-point line and then they had nine more shots. You’re going to lose that game.”
The Bucks nearly completed the rally after trailing earlier, using a larger lineup to regain momentum.
“We went with a jumbo lineup and it gave us a great lift, got us back in the game,” Rivers said. “But man, we had two or three turnovers in that stretch.”
Milwaukee generated opportunities with actions involving Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ryan Rollins, who finished with 16 points and 10 assists.
“It was really good,” Rivers said when asked about Rollins’ screening role. “Because we had Jericho in the dunker, they couldn’t leave him… we told Ryan just stand there and whichever way Giannis went, he slipped out. I thought we got great looks.”
Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 31 points, but his potential game-tying three with 52 seconds remaining missed the mark. Pelle Larsson then converted a three-pointer on the other end to push Miami ahead by six.
Rivers praised Milwaukee’s bench for helping the team stay within reach throughout the night.
“Our bench was phenomenal,” he said. “When you look at our numbers, our bench were all pluses. They were really, really good tonight.”
The veteran coach also addressed the limited sample size of certain lineup combinations, including minutes shared by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Cam Thomas.
“It’s too early,” Rivers said. “They haven’t played enough. Let them play. We’ll just watch and see. I’m not giving any judgment to the way they play yet.”
Defensively, Rivers believed the Bucks competed well despite the loss.
“Defensively overall, they shot 41% tonight,” he said. “They had more shots, I’m assuming, which was the difference in the game.”
Rivers also pointed to Miami guard Pelle Larsson as a key factor in the result.
“I thought Larsson the entire night just beat us off the dribble, got in the paint, made plays,” Rivers said. “I thought he was the key guy tonight.”
Larsson finished with a career-high 28 points, while Bam Adebayo added 21 for the Heat after scoring 83 points in the previous game.
Rivers said that historic performance did not change Milwaukee’s preparation.
“We literally didn’t do one thing different,” he said. “We’ve got size, so we weren’t that concerned by that. That was an outlier game and it was an amazing outlier game.”
Milwaukee dropped seven of its last eight games with the defeat and fell to 27-38 on the season. The Bucks will travel to face the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday as they attempt to halt their recent slide.
