LOS ANGELES – The Milwaukee Bucks produced an exhibition of 3-point shooting in a crushing victory over the Miami Heat to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first round playoff series on Monday (Tuesday, Manila time).
Bryn Forbes erupted for five 3s in the first half and Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points to give the Bucks a resounding 132-98 win over last year's NBA Finals runners-up.
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Overall, the Bucks made 22 of 53 3-point attempts, Antetokounmpo kicking off the rout with a 28-foot pullup from outside the arc for the first points of the game.
After an overtime thriller in game one on Saturday, the Bucks were in no mood to leave anything to chance in game two, erupting for 46 points in the first quarter alone.
The Bucks made 15 of 29 three-point attempts in the first half, and surged into leads of more than 30 points at various stages of a one-sided encounter.
They maintained a healthy cushion throughout, with the Heat unable to get within 20 points of the Bucks after briefly clawing their way back to a 19-point deficit early in the second quarter.
Antetokounmpo added 13 rebounds and six assists while Forbes finished with 22 points off the bench.
Khris Middleton added 17 points, including three 3-pointers, as six Bucks players made double-digit totals.
Dewayne Dedmon led the Miami scorers with 19 points from the bench while Goran Dragic added 18. Bam Adebayo was restricted to 16 points while Jimmy Butler was held to just 10.
Game three takes place in Miami on Thursday (Friday in Manila).