Heat rides big nights from Robinson, Jovic, Adebayo, Herro to beat Bucks. Five takeaways

Takeaways from the Heat’s highly impressive 123-97 win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum:

▪ With his team without Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson, Erik Spoelstra hit the jackpot with his 29th different starting lineup.

Duncan Robinson started for the 18th time this season and Nikola Jovic started for the 13th time. Both players were nothing short of brilliant starting alongside Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin.

And oh by the way, Adebayo had his eighth career triple double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Jovic, in his best game as a pro, scored a career-high 24 points, to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 30 minutes.

“Niko was very good; he generates more inertia for our team in transition,” Erik Spoelstra said.

The second-year Serbian forward produced 14 points, five rebounds and three assists during an immaculate first half that ended with Miami ahead 69-52. Then he was every bit as good to open the second half, with 10 points in just under nine third quarter minutes. That included a three-pointer, a layup and a free throw to push Miami’s margin to 15 after Milwaukee had closed to within nine.

Meanwhile, Robinson erupted for 17 in the first half (shooting 5 for 6 on threes), en route to finishing with 23 points, five assists and two steals.

Herro (19 points, five assists) also was sharp on a night Miami shot 52 percent from the field and 47.5 on threes (19 for 40).

A day after handily beating the defending champion Denver Nuggets, the Bucks trailed 98-76 after three and never drew closer than 20 in the fourth quarter against the Heat. Miami (29-25) won for the fifth time in seven games.

Robinson and Jovic set the tone early.

Robinson, who finished 6 for 8 on threes and 8 for 12 overall, scored 11 points in the first quarter, then hit two threes after a mini-Bucks rally in the second quarter.

He followed a 17 point first half with more inspired play in the third quarter, including a three that pushed Miami’s lead to 92-72 late in the third.

“It helped the way Duncan came out flying around screens,” Spoelstra said. “Doing what he does best, shooting a high degree of difficulty threes.”

Spoelstra inserted Robinson in the lineup because “we wanted to get spacing with that group. Tyler, Duncan and Bam gave us really good minutes [recently]. We wanted to maintain stability” with Butler, Rozier and Richardson out.

Robinson had been listed as questionable with elbow and shoulder injuries sustained when Celtics guard Jaylen Brown threw him to the floor after the two were tangled up during Boston’s win on Sunday.

Robinson said it was a dirty play by Brown, who instead blamed Robinson.

“Unfortunate play,” Spoelstra said before Tuesday’s game. “If opponents are thinking Duncan is an enforcer and the overly physical defender, then that means we are doing some good things.”

Robinson said: “I had every intent to try to play” Tuesday. “I haven’t been starting. You want to take advantage of that. I don’t take any opportunity for granted.”

Jovic, who hadn’t played meaningful minutes since Jan. 21, showed not a smidgen of rust in shooting 8 for 13 overall and 5 for 8 on threes.

He opened the game with a three, then drew a foul on a sharp cut to the basket, then hit two threes later in the quarter. He played the entire first quarter, producing 11 points (3 for 4 shooting), four rebounds and two assists.

He also didn’t shrink when asked to defend Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes but only four points in the second half.

“Niko led the team today,” said Adebayo, who did good work defensively against Antetokounmpo.

In his previous 10 games, Jovic had played just 10 total minutes, all with the outcome already determined.

Before that, he had started 10 games in a row, with Miami winning five of the first seven but losing his last three starts before he exited both the starting lineup and the rotation.

Jovic’s play on Tuesday suggests he deserves another extended look.

As for Adebayo, he went to the half with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists, then went on an assist binge in the second half to close with his second triple double of the season. He shot 8 for 14 from the field and had two steals in his 31 minutes.

“Bam is our heart and soul,” Robinson said.

Spoelstra said “the playmaking, the relief baskets we got from his passing was critical.”

The triple double was “just in the flow of the game, just reading the game,” Adebayo said.

▪ Spoelstra moved Jaime Jaquez Jr. to the bench and went only eight deep in the first three quarters.

Jaquez - mixing jumpers with drives to the basket - in the first half looked more like the player who thrived before his January groin injury, not the player who has played unevenly since.

He had eight points, two rebounds and two assists in the first half and finished with 12 points and four assists.

The last time Bucks coach Doc Rivers saw Jovic and Jaquez, he was announcing solid performances by both in a Jan. 3 Heat win at the Lakers.

“Miami does it again,” Rivers said before the game, when asked about the Heat’s last two first-round picks. “I was not even in a competitive role but it pisses me off,” he said jokingly of Miami’s success in the draft.

“They keep getting these guys in the 20s [or mid to late teens]. They keep doing it. They target guys that fit their culture and the way they want to play. Jaquez is the perfect fit for who they are and how they want to be. I think certain guys target them. They fit in this system. Utah did that for years with Jerry Sloan. It’s more about their system. Both of those guys are fun to watch.”

Kevin Love and Haywood Highsmith were the only others who played off Miami’s bench before the Heat emptied its bench midway through the fourth quarter.

Love was exceptional in his 23 minutes, with 19 points, 8 rebounds, three assists and two steals. He hit two 27-foot threes early in the fourth to extend Miami’s lead to 28.

Guard Alondes Williams, signed to a two-way contract on Friday, made his Heat debut in the fourth quarter.

“He’s earned [the contract]; it’s great to be able to reward someone who came up through the system,” Spoelstra said.

▪ Heat offseason target Damian Lillard had an off night, while Herro sizzled playing in his hometown.

Lillard scored just five points in the first half on 2 for 8 shooting and finished the night with 16 points on 5 for 14 shooting, with five assists and three turnovers.

Though he’s averaging 24.8 points from the field, Lillard entered the game shooting just 42.6 percent from the field and 34.8 percent on threes, below his career averages of 43.9 and 37.1.

Meanwhile, Herro - the player that Portland dismissively rejected when Miami inquired about Lillard - hit 3 of 8 threes and moved past Eddie Jones for third on the Heat’s all-time three-point field goal list with his 712th. He trails only Robinson and Tim Hardaway.

Herro has now hit at least two three-pointers in 15 consecutive games, two short of his career high.

▪ Don’t call the Heat short-handed in front of Spoelstra. But you can call the Heat’s next opponent short-handed in front of whomever you please.

When a Milwaukee reporter asked before the game about the Heat being “short-handed,” Spoelstra was displeased, saying “that would be disrespectful to say we’re short-handed. That would upset the guys in the locker room.”

Butler, who is away from the team after a death in the family, is expected back after the All Star break, which begins Thursday.

Richardson (dislocated shoulder) and Rozier (sprained knee) are expected to be sidelined for multiple weeks, but timetables aren’t yet determined for either.

“We will find out more as the week goes on,” Spoelstra said of their injuries. “The break will be good for both of them. Considering everything and how everything looked on the floor, we are cautiously encouraged by that.”

The 76ers will be short-handed when the Heat concludes its pre All Star game schedule in Philadelphia on Wednesday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Sun).

The 76ers will be without defending league MVP Joel Embiid (knee) and forwards Tobias Harris, Nic Batum and Robert Covington. Nor will have former Heat guard Kyle Lowry, who signed with the 76ers on Tuesday but was ruled out for Wednesday’s game.

The Heat has now followed seven consecutive losses with five wins in seven games, and the effort was good in the two defeats (against the Clippers and Boston).

“Our communication has gotten 10 times better by committing to that,” Adebayo said.