A record of 3s and five more wild statistics in the defeat of the Miami Heat by the Milwaukee Bucks

A record of 3s and five more wild statistics in the defeat of the Miami Heat by the Milwaukee Bucks

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With their 144-97 victory on Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks not only defeated the Miami Heat, they covered it with an unprecedented barrage of 3-point kicks, setting an NBA record with 29 long baskets made in 51 attempts. They drew the previous mark of 27 with just under 8 minutes left, leaving Sam Merrill to make the record shot at 6:07 from the end of the fourth period.

The Bucks broke the record set by the Houston Rockets at home against the Phoenix Suns on April 7, 2019.

There have been 108 previous cases in NBA history of a team attempting 50 or more 3s in a regular season game. The Bucks were the first team to try 50 3s and hit 50% or better on those attempts (they did 56.9% on Tuesday). With the help of ESPN Stats & Information, what were the most interesting figures to take from this long-distance shooting exhibition?

• 12: In addition to breaking the record for the most 3s made, Bucks also broke the record with the most diverse players making a 3-point basket with 12, breaking the 11 mark, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau. The Bucks were led by six baskets by Jrue Holiday in 10 pitches from a distance of 3 points, followed by Donte DiVincenzo with 5 of 6.

• 9: Amid all those buckets made by so many Bucks, perhaps the biggest surprise was Giannis Antetokounmpo ending with just 9 points in the night, although playing only 24 minutes. The two-time reigning MVP was the only Milwaukee player to miss a 3-point goal, although he tried twice. The last time Antetokounmpo scored less than double digits was on December 22, 2018, also against Heat in a 94-87 defeat.

• 1: Giannis did not make a 3, but his brother Thanasis scored his first 3-point basket before hitting 0 out of 11 beyond the hoop in his 23 NBA games in his career before Tuesday.

• 30 or bust? Bryn Forbes reached 29th and final 3 points with 3:30 remaining, so it wasn’t as if the clock had stopped Milwaukee’s rain of 3s. But the Forbes bucket was also Milwaukee’s last attempt at night.

• 47: Elias also notes that Bucks’ 47-point win over Heat tied with the third-largest margin of victory over the current conference champion:

Biggest win against the current conference champion
December 1986, SuperSonics def. Rockets, over-56
November 2019, Mavericks def. Warriors, plus-48
December 2020, Bucks def. Heat plus-47
December 2003, Grizzlies def. Nets, plus-47
April 1999, Magic def. Bulls, 47 more

Tuesday’s loss also tied with the second largest margin in the history of the Heat, with 47 points lost to the Lakers in November 1988, losing just 68 points to the Cavaliers on December 17, 1991. Those 144 Bucks points were also the second most allowed by Miami in the history of the franchise, behind only the 148 that Cleveland scored in that 1991 game.

So what did the Heat do with all that bad news on the court and in the record books? The only thing they could:

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