Takeaways from the shorthanded Heat’s bounce-back win 24 hours after an ‘unacceptable’ loss
There were plenty of bright spots for the Miami Heat in a challenging 2020, and the final game of the year is on that list of positives.
After an ugly 47-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday that tied for the second-most lopsided defeat in franchise history, the shorthanded Heat bounced back just 24 hours later to earn a hard-fought 119-108 win over the Bucks on Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat (2-2) was without All-Star wing Jimmy Butler (sprained right ankle) for both games against the Bucks.
“You want to constantly develop some grit and some toughness during the course of a long season, and our guys responded in appropriate fashion,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
What was Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo’s mindset entering Wednesday’s game?
“Not to get beat by 47 again,” Adebayo said. “.... That’s an embarrassment to not only the players, but our organization, our staff. That’s unacceptable in this culture. What we did today is how we should have played yesterday.”
Miami trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but closed the period on a 30-19 run to enter the fourth quarter down by just three points.
From there, the Heat outscored the Bucks 31-17 in a dominant fourth-quarter performance behind nine fourth-quarter points from veteran guard Goran Dragic.
Dragic finished with a team-high 26 points while shooting 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-7 shooting on threes, five rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
“I was just [upset] at how we played last night,” Dragic said. “I tried to come out right away and tried to make an impact. That’s my job. Last night we lost by 40. I’ve never lost by 40 in my life. I couldn’t fall asleep.”
Heat guard Tyler Herro also put together an impressive stat line with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, four assists and a career-high 15 rebounds.
“Just never count the Heat out, man,” Adebayo said. “Everybody in this locker room has a chip on their shoulder. We always say that a chip will make a monster.”
Next up for the Heat is a quick one-game trip for a Friday night matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Bucks:
After a relatively quiet performance in Tuesday’s blowout loss, Adebayo took a much more aggressive offensive approach into Wednesday’s game.
Adebayo finished Wednesday’s win with 22 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and two blocks in 35 minutes. He finished Tuesday’s defeat with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, six rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes.
The midrange shot was a big part of Adebayo’s offensive performance on Wednesday, as he made four of his six non-paint shots.
Adebayo was also tasked with defending two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for most of the game. Antetokounmpo finished with a triple-double that included 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, but he was held to six points on 2-of-5 shooting and just one assist in the fourth quarter.
Also worth noting: Adebayo did not commit a turnover after committing two turnovers in the first two minutes of Wednesday’s game. He has 20 assists and 17 turnovers this season.
Adebayo finished with a plus/minus of plus-11 on Wednesday after ending Tuesday’s loss as a minus-32.
“He knows how important he is to us on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “He had one of the toughest covers in the league, obviously, guarding GA virtually every minute that he was out there. ... Then offensively because of their pressure and because Jimmy was out, he had to shoulder a lot of the playmaking and ball-handling and facilitating for us. That is a great luxury for us to have. Our offense can function when he’s handling the ball and other guys can just play to their strengths.”
The Heat is taking a cautious approach with Butler’s ankle injury, and his status for Friday’s road game against the Mavericks is still up in the air.
Butler, 31, missed his second consecutive game Wednesday because of a sprained right ankle.
Spoelstra classified Butler as “day to day” on Tuesday.
The next question is: Will Butler travel with the Heat for its Friday road game against the Mavericks? That answer is still unknown, with the NBA Health and Safety Protocols recommending that “teams should consider not including in the traveling party a player who is not expected to play in any games on an upcoming road trip” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
If Butler travels with the team for Friday’s game, it will likely be an indication that he’s close to a return.
Butler injured his right ankle during last week’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic, but he attempted to play through the injury on Christmas Day against the New Orleans Pelicans. Butler recorded four points, six rebounds and five assists 16 first-half minutes in Friday’s win over the Pelicans, but right ankle stiffness forced him to miss the second half.
The Heat is now 1-1 without Butler this season. Miami was 6-9 in the 15 games Butler missed last season.
Without Butler, the Heat used its fourth different starting lineup in the first four games of the season.
On Wednesday, guard Avery Bradley and forward Andre Iguodala were inserted into Miami’s starting lineup. Herro, Duncan Robinson and Adebayo are the only Heat players who have started each of the first four games.
Four different starting lineups in four games is a sign Spoelstra is still working to find the right rotation combinations, especially with Butler unavailable. It’s the first time in franchise history that the Heat has used four different starting lineups in the season’s first four games.
The Heat didn’t use its fourth different starting lineup last season until the 17th game.
Wednesday marked Iguodala’s first start with the Heat since he was traded to Miami last February.
The Heat’s bench rotation Wednesday included Dragic, Precious Achiuwa, Kelly Olynyk, Kendrick Nunn, Gabe Vincent and Moe Harkless. Miami used 11 different players Wednesday, and all of them played in the first quarter.
Along with Dragic’s big night, Olynyk contributed 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists in the win. Dragic and Olynyk combined for 41 points off the Heat’s bench.
Bradley was also important, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He also spent most of the game defending Bucks All-Star forward Khris Middleton, who was limited to eight points on 3-of-15 shooting.
Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Heat early on.
Miami committed 10 first-quarter turnovers for the second consecutive game, and won Wednesday despite 22 turnovers that Milwaukee scored 26 points on. It’s the third time in four games that the Heat has committed 20 or more turnovers to begin the season.
The Heat entered averaging a league-high 20.3 turnovers per game this season.
“We’re still trying to figure out offensively what we’re trying to get to and how to get to it,” Olynyk said. “Between the personnel, playing with each other, the lineups and roles, you’re going to see some miscues there.”
The Heat also struggled with early-season turnover issues last season, averaging 20.8 turnovers in the first five games, before cleaning things up to finish the season averaging 14.9 turnovers. This is a reminder that just because Miami has started sloppy doesn’t mean it can’t solve its turnover issues in the coming weeks.
2020 was a strange and unique year for many, and the Heat is definitely included on that list.
With Wednesday’s win to close 2020, the Heat posted a regular-season record of 22-22 this calendar year. A .500 regular-season record in the same year that Miami also finished two wins short of an NBA championship in the Walt Disney World bubble.
The Heat recorded a 20-20 regular-season record last season in 2020, including a 3-5 record in seeding games in the bubble.
The year began with an 84-76 win over the Toronto Raptors in a sold-out AmericanAirlines Arena on Jan. 2, which was about two months before the NBA suspended the 2019-20 season because of the pandemic. The year ended Wednesday with a win over the Bucks at AmericanAirlines Arena that featured a socially distanced crowd of about 100 family members and friends of Heat players and staff, and no fans.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 10:00 PM.
