How the Heat shut down the paint vs. Giannis in Game 1, and what it will take to do it again
Even before the start of the Miami Heat’s playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, it had already become a popular take.
The Heat matches up well against the Bucks.
Top-seeded Milwaukee did little to disprove that thinking in an 11-point loss to fifth-seeded Miami on Monday in Game 1 of their second-round series. The Heat is the first team to defeat the Bucks three times this season, as Miami also posted a 2-1 record against Milwaukee in the regular season.
The Heat is one of the most efficient three-point shooting teams in the NBA and the Bucks’ defense allowed the most three-point attempts in the league in the regular season. That’s certainly part of Miami’s perceived matchup advantage, with Game 2 of their best-of-7 series set for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
But the Heat’s defense has also been a big part of the team’s success against the Bucks, and it was on full display in Game 1. After a 40-point first quarter, Milwaukee scored just 64 points on 43.1 percent shooting over the final three quarters Monday.
The foundation of the Heat’s defensive plan? Keep Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the paint, and Miami’s scheme worked.
“Get points in transition, make everything tough for G.A. in the paint and everybody else,” All-Star Jimmy Butler, who scored 40 points in Game 1, said of the Heat’s defensive plan.
Antetokounmpo, who averaged an NBA-high 17.5 paint points per game in the regular season, finished Game 1 with six paint points on 3-of-6 shooting. It’s only the fifth time this season he has scored six or fewer paint points in a game.
Antetokounmpo finished the loss with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting on threes, 10 rebounds and nine assists while committing six turnovers in 37 minutes.
“Obviously, they’re going to try to build a wall as much as possible,” Antetokounmpo said of the Heat. “This game, the next game, I hope the whole series. I need to keep making the right play. Would I want to be aggressive? Obviously when the game is over and you look at the stat sheet and you only see 12 shots, you kind of wonder why didn’t I shoot more and could I have been more aggressive. But I think I’m just trying to make the right play.”
There was nothing special about the Heat’s plan. Most of Milwaukee’s opponents enter games with similar defensive talking points, but Miami simply executed in Game 1.
One of the advantages the Heat has over most teams in defending (6-11, 242 pounds) is it has multiple players it feels comfortable using against him.
Jae Crowder (6-6, 235) started on Antetokounmpo and spent the most time defending the reigning MVP. But All-Star center Bam Adebayo (6-9, 255) also spent a chunk of time as Antetokounmpo’s primary defender, with Butler (6-7, 230) and Andre Iguodala (6-6, 215) also taking on the task for a few possessions.
According to NBA Advanced Stats, Crowder spent about 24 possessions guarding Antetokounmpo, followed by 12 possessions for Adebayo, eight possessions for Butler and four possessions for Iguodala.
“I knew I was going to get a piece. I didn’t know when,” Crowder said. “... We knew we had a lot of different bodies to throw at him. I got that assignment early; I got that assignment late. So I just wanted to do my part and just make it as tough as possible.”
Part of the Heat’s success against Antetokounmpo in Game 1 was limiting his opportunities in transition, where he’s nearly unstoppable for a Bucks team that played at the league’s fastest pace in the regular season. Miami did this by getting back on defense, controlling the pace by making 47.6 percent of its shots during the final three quarters, drawing enough fouls to take 27 free throws, and committing just six live-ball turnovers.
Antetokounmpo only had two fast-break shots Monday, making both of them. Whenever he did get in the open court, he was immediately met with multiple Heat defenders around the three-point line to slow him down.
“It’s a big key. But it’s not like they’re going to stop,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of controlling the tempo against the Bucks. “It’s not like they’re going to slow down the pace and try to play half-court basketball the entire 48 minutes. So you’ve got to stay with it. And part of that is your offensive execution, not turning the ball over, and making sure you’re getting the ball where it needs to go.”
Limiting Milwaukee’s transition opportunities forced Antetokounmpo to execute against a set Miami defense in half-court sets. This allowed the Heat to load up on him whenever he had the ball in an effort to deter him from the rim, with four and sometimes five Miami players with a foot in the paint to shrink the court and force him to pass or take an outside shot.
While 52.6 percent of Antetokounmpo’s shots came at the rim in the regular season, only 4 of his 12 shots came from inside the restricted area in Game 1. He attempted five threes, making two of them.
“I’m not a rocket scientist to imagine how aggressive he’ll be in Game 2,” Spoelstra said of Antetokounmpo. “So whatever he did, we’ll get to the film, but we’re going to have to do it even better. He’s a great player. Even when you’re in the gaps, he has a way of bringing that second defender, a third defender, in a unique way that you don’t face night to night.”
Whenever Antetokounmpo did get into the paint, the Heat made it a point to foul him and make him earn his points at the foul line as opposed to an easy layup or dunk. Antetokounmpo, who shot 63.3 percent from the foul line in the regular season, was fouled eight times in Game 1 and shot just 4 of 12 on free throws.
Another aspect of the Heat’s defensive scheme against Antetokounmpo: Miami played a switch-heavy defense in its first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, but the Heat barely switched on screens against Antetokounmpo unless Butler was the one switching on to him in order to avoid mismatches.
And although Crowder spent the most time defending Antetokounmpo on Monday, the Heat used Adebayo as his shadow. Adebayo exited and entered the game along with Antetokounmpo for most of the night, and Antetokounmpo was only on the court for 1 minutes, 12 seconds with Adebayo on the bench in Game 1.
Of course, the Heat’s defense can’t take away everything. With Miami packing the paint against Antetokounmpo and others, Milwaukee took 27 open to wide open threes, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
The Bucks took advantage, shooting an efficient 16 of 35 (45.7 percent) from deep with Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton combining for eight made three-pointers. Milwaukee played Game 1 without starting guard Eric Bledsoe because of a strained right hamstring.
Considering the Bucks finished the regular season with the league’s 18th-best team three-point percentage (35.5), the Heat can live with those shots if it means keeping Antetokounmpo out of the paint.
“They’re a good team. They work hard defensively,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of the Heat. “They threw a lot at [Antetokounmpo]. We’ve got to be better around Giannis. We got to execute a little bit better and make a few more plays.”
The Heat’s plan is clear, and it worked in Game 1. But it might not work in Game 2 on Tuesday.
Maybe Antetokounmpo makes more free throws. Maybe the Heat misses more shots or commits more live-ball turnovers that turn into easy transition baskets for the superstar. Or maybe Adebayo gets into foul trouble and Miami’s defense suffers because of it.
The key is trying to put four of these types of defensive performances together in seven games. The first one is already out of the way.
“You can’t get too emotional,” Spoelstra said after the Game 1 win. “I don’t know what kind of statement [this win] is. This is so early in the series. You have two really good teams. We won Game 1. That’s it. That’s how we’re dealing it. We have to gather ourselves and get ready for a really competitive Game 2.”
