Takeaways and what can be learned from the shorthanded Heat’s loss to the Bucks
Even without Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic, the Miami Heat didn’t make it easy for the team with the league’s top record.
The final score says otherwise, though.
The shorthanded Heat (43-26) led for most of the game, but the Milwaukee Bucks dominated the second half to make it seem like just another blowout victory in a 130-116 win over Miami on Thursday at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Butler (right foot soreness) and Dragic (sprained left ankle) did not play for Miami, while Milwaukee was at full strength.
The Heat actually led by one point with 4:58 to play, but the Bucks (55-14) closed the game on a 20-5 run to run away with the 14-point win to clinch the top record in the East.
“They’re a very good basketball team and they have the record they have for a reason,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s not like we were up 40. The way the NBA game is now, you have to play consistently for 48 minutes.”
While it was close down the stretch until Milwaukee’s surge to end the game, Miami actually held a big lead of its own earlier in the game.
After the Heat built a 23-point lead in the first half, the Bucks completely controlled the second half and outscored Miami 74-43 over the final two quarters.
The Heat shot 31.7 percent from the field and committed 12 turnovers in the second half after making 52.4 percent of its shots in the first two quarters. Meanwhile, the Bucks shot 56.1 percent from the field, 8 of 16 on threes and 20 of 20 from the free-throw line in the second half to earn the comeback win.
“We had stretches definitely to start the third, moments in the fourth, where we were just worrying about the wrong things, the shots or whatever,” Heat forward Duncan Robinson said, “instead of locking in on the defensive end and letting that translate into out offense. So definitely a frustrating game in some sorts, but we’ve got to learn from it, got to take stuff away from it, just apply it down the line.”
The Heat is 2-2 in its first four seeding games. Next up for Miami is a Saturday matchup against the Phoenix Suns, which have won their first four games at Disney.
Five takeaways from the Heat’s loss to the Bucks on Thursday at The Arena:
This was the Heat’s first game of the season without both Butler (right foot soreness) and Dragic (sprained left ankle).
Butler has now missed two consecutive games. Spoelstra said prior to Thursday’s game there has already been an X-ray and MRI done on Butler’s injured foot, and “at this point, it’s rest and recovery.”
“Jimmy, his foot is sore,” Spoelstra said. “We want to make sure that he’s feeling like he did even a week ago.”
Meanwhile, Dragic limped off the court with 5.2 seconds to play in Tuesday’s victory over the Boston Celtics after landing awkwardly on his left ankle. The Heat announced later that night that an X-ray on his injured ankle returned negative.
“Goran, obviously you saw at the end of the game with a sprained ankle,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “Moving around a lot better, had a really good day yesterday and today of treatment.”
Butler, 30, played in Miami’s first two seeding games at Disney, averaging 19 points on 50 percent shooting from the field, 5.5 rebounds and six assists in 31.6 minutes. The five-time All-Star is averaging team-highs in points (20.2), assists (6.1) and steals (1.7) in his first season with the Heat.
The 34-year-old Dragic was off a strong start at Disney in his sixth man role, averaging 19.3 points on 51.5 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 26.6 minutes in the Heat’s first three seeding games. He scored 25 points in Monday’s loss to the Raptors and 20 points in Tuesday’s win over the Celtics.
Thursday marked the 13th game Butler has missed this season. Dragic has now missed 12 games this season.
In addition, Heat rookie forward KZ Okpala (personal reasons) and two-way contract rookie guard Gabe Vincent (knee soreness) missed Thursday’s contest.
Without Butler and Dragic, the Heat relied on its league-best three-point shooting against the Bucks. Miami shot the ball well, and it still wasn’t enough.
Miami, which entered shooting a league-best 38.2 percent on threes, shot 21 of 46 (45.7 percent) from deep against Milwaukee on Thursday. The Heat outscored the Bucks 63-45 from three-point range.
Miami hasn’t lost many games when it has made threes at that rate. It marks just the Heat’s second loss of the season when it makes more than 45 percent of its three-point attempts, as it’s now 13-2 when surpassing that threshold.
Most of Miami’s made threes came in the first half, when it shot an incredible 13 of 24 from behind the arc to enter the break with a 17-point lead.
Jae Crowder, Robinson and Kendrick Nunn led the Heat’s three-point charge. Crowder finished with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting on threes, Robinson scored 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep, and Nunn totaled 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting on threes.
Miami made 8 of 22 threes during the final two quarters, which isn’t as bad as one would think considering Milwaukee won the second half by 31 points. But the Heat was just 3 of 15 from inside the paint during this stretch, which is more reflective of its late-game struggles.
When dissecting the Heat-Bucks matchup and trying to figure out why Miami has had success against Milwaukee this season — the Heat won two of its three regular-season matchups against the Bucks — three-point shooting is a big part.
Milwaukee’s defense allows the most three-point shot attempts in the NBA at 39.3 per game. The Bucks focus on making it tough around the rim, but opponents can usually take a large amount of threes if they choose to.
Well, the Heat is the most efficient three-point shooting team in the league. Including Thursday’s game, Miami has shot a combined 55 of 127 (43.3 percent) from deep against Milwaukee this season.
The key to defeating the Bucks is to make threes ... and make a lot of them. The Heat can do that.
But here’s the other side of it: Milwaukee is the best in the league at defending the paint, as it has limited opponents to an NBA-low 47.5 percent shooting from inside the paint.
On Thursday, the Heat scored just 22 points on 11-of-27 shooting (40.7 percent) from inside the paint. That just wasn’t good enough, even after Miami hit the second-most threes in a game in franchise history.
“They’re constantly bringing an extra defender into the paint. They’re really long,” Heat rookie Tyler Herro said of the Bucks’ defense. “Much like Toronto, you know they’ll bring that extra defender. They want to really protect the paint. So just being unselfish like we were in the first half, even in the second half we were still unselfish. We just didn’t make the right plays sometimes and we didn’t make as many shots.”
The Heat didn’t have much of an answer for Antetokounmpo. It didn’t help that Miami’s Bam Adebayo struggled to stay on the court because of foul trouble.
Antetokounmpo, the reigning MVP, finished Thursday’s win with 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds and four assists. Twelve of his 13 made shots came from inside the restricted area, as he finished a perfect 12 of 12 from that zone against the Heat.
“I just think he did a really good job of forcing the issue,” Heat forward Andre Iguodala said of Antetokounmpo. “His spin move was very effective tonight. We didn’t adjust as well as we could have. But I think it’s a learning point, looking to try to take it one game at a time. But potentially in the future, knowing that’s something we have to key on if that opportunity presents itself going up against them again.”
Foul trouble helped to slow Antetokounmpo a little in the first half, as he picked up his third foul with 7:53 remaining in the second quarter. But he still entered halftime with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and three rebounds in 17 first-half minutes.
That foul trouble followed Antetokounmpo into the second half, as he picked up his fourth foul with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter. He still recorded 19 points and nine rebounds over the final two quarters.
The Heat’s All-Star also battled foul trouble, as Adebayo was called for his fourth foul with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter. He then picked up his fifth foul with 8:30 play.
Adebayo struggled throughout the contest, scoring just six points on 2-of-10 shooting in 22 minutes. He also finished with five rebounds, six assists and four turnovers.
“A lot of it was the foul trouble,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s struggles. “It’s tough to get into a rhythm when you’re sitting out large portions of the game. I’m not making an excuse for him, but the foul trouble did have an impact. Particularly in the third quarter, the shot fake and then the reach, we need Bam in there. He made some really nice plays in the first half, just not enough minutes.”
The Bucks’ other All-Star Khris Middleton hurt the Heat, too. Middleton scored 33 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, 5-of-6 shooting on threes and 10-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line.
Milwaukee’s two All-Stars, Antetokounmpo and Middleton, combined for 66 points. Miami’s two All-Stars, Adebayo and Butler, combined for six points with Butler unavailable to play.
Even without Butler and Dragic, the Heat’s depth was still on display with Herro and Iguodala impressing.
Center Kelly Olynyk started in Butler’s place alongside Nunn, Robinson, Crowder and Adebayo. This five-man combination posted a plus/minus of plus-one 11 minutes in Tuesday’s win over the Celtics.
The Heat’s starting lineup with Olynyk held its own against the Bucks to start the game, opening an 11-10 lead before the substitution. But the second half didn’t go well, as the group finished as a minus-13 in 10 minutes on Thursday.
With Dragic out, the Heat’s bench rotation included Derrick Jones Jr., Herro, Iguodala and Solomon Hill. Kyle Alexander and Chris Silva entered the game in the final minutes with the Bucks already in control.
Herro and Iguodala were especially impressive.
Herro finished with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, four rebounds and five assists. He scored 16 of his points in the first half.
Iguodala, 36, contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes. He has totaled 18 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists, and is a plus-21 during the past two games.
Jones played double-digit minutes for the second consecutive game after logging just 16 seconds of playing time Monday against Toronto. The fact Butler is out has pushed Jones into a more prominent role, and Jones finished Thursday’s game with 12 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes.
Hill, who had played a total of just two minutes during the Heat’s first three seeding games, finished with three points and two assists in 16 minutes.
Center Meyers Leonard, who started his first 49 games with the Heat this season, continues to watch games from the bench. He has received a DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) in each of Miami’s first four seeding games — the only four games he has not played in when active this season.
The Heat is still in fourth place in the East.
Even after Thursday’s loss, Miami remains at No. 4. The Heat stands one game ahead of the fifth-place Indiana Pacers, which lost Thursday to the Suns.
As for the other teams around the Heat in the standings: Miami is 2.5 games behind third-place Boston and 1.5 games ahead of the sixth-place Philadelphia 76ers.
One noteworthy item regarding the 76ers: Philadelphia announced Thursday that All-Star Ben Simmons will be out indefinitely with a subluxation of his left patella. Simmons was injured in Wednesday’s win over the Washington Wizards.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 6:56 PM.
