Heat knows what shots will be there vs. Bucks defense. More just have to be made in Game 2
Just minutes after the Miami Heat’s overtime loss in Game 1, Duncan Robinson was asked if there was anything that caught him off guard regarding the Milwaukee Bucks’ defense.
“Some of their switching stuff, we hadn’t seen. But nothing overly surprising,” Robinson said. “... There’s a lot of familiarity between these two teams.”
For all of the wrinkles and tweaks the Heat and Bucks made to their game plans in advance of their first-round playoff series and all of the adjustments that will be made in the coming days, Miami knows what to expect from Milwaukee’s defense. More importantly, the Heat knows the shots it needs to make to beat the Bucks’ paint-packing defense.
Miami just didn’t hit enough of them in Saturday’s 109-107 overtime loss to Milwaukee at Fiserv Forum to fall behind 1-0 in the series. The Heat hopes to be better in Game 2 on Monday (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun and TNT) in Milwaukee.
“If you look as a team, they [give up a lot of three-point attempts],” Heat veteran guard Goran Dragic said of the Bucks’ defense. “I think we have great shooters who can make threes. I think the plan was to take open ones and we did it. We missed a lot of easy ones, midrange shots and definitely that hurt us a little bit. ... It’s encouraging for us. We didn’t have the best performance as a team, but we know that we were there.”
The Bucks’ defensive scheme is built to make things tough around the rim with the help of 7-footer Brook Lopez and last season’s Defensive Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo, forcing teams to convert on an efficient amount of above-the-break threes and mid-range shots to make up for their lack of interior scoring.
Milwaukee’s defensive shot profile is proof of that. The Bucks allowed the most made threes (14.8 per game) on the third-most three-point attempts (38.6 per game) while limiting opponents to the second-worst shooting percentage from inside the restricted area (61.3 percent) on the fourth-fewest shot attempts from that zone (23.4 per game) to finish with the 10th-best defense in the regular season.
The Bucks executed their defensive game plan in Game 1, outscoring the Heat 56-24 in the paint. Miami, which averaged 24.7 shots at the rim, finished just 6 of 16 from inside the restricted area on Saturday to score the second-fewest paint points it has totaled in a game this season.
“We know their game plan,” Dragic said. “They’re going to pack the paint. Lopez is going to be in drop. He’s going to be inside. So it’s tough to score inside the paint or make lobs. I think that the biggest key for us is maybe to score more in the open floor in transition.”
In Game 1 on Saturday, Miami shot 6 of 15 (40 percent) on non-rim paint shots, 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) on midrange attempts and 15 of 42 (35.7 percent) on above-the-break threes. As a result of missing too many of the shots it needs to make against the Bucks, the Heat shot just 36.4 percent from the field and 32.7 percent on two-point shot attempts.
During last year’s second-round playoff upset over the Bucks, the Heat shot an efficient 49.3 percent on non-rim paint opportunities, 45.8 percent on midrange jumpers and 40.3 percent on above-the break-threes.
“I think we did pretty well,” Bucks guard Jrue Holiday said of the team’s defensive performance against the Heat in Game 1. “We stuck to the game plan and I think the game plan worked. But this is where we go back and see where we can try to get more of an advantage.”
The Heat’s two stars played a part in the team’s Game 1 shooting struggles. Adebayo and Butler, who combined to average 40 points per game in the regular season, totaled just 26 points on 8-of-37 (21.6 percent) shooting in the loss.
Adebayo finished with nine points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Butler finished with 17 points on 4-of-22 shooting from the field, 2-of-9 shooting on threes and 7-of-10 shooting on free throws. It marked the first time Butler has finished with four or fewer made field goals when attempting more than 16 shots in a game since joining the Heat.
Adebayo made just one of his five shots from inside the restricted area against the Bucks’ elite interior defense. He finished 3 of 9 on non-rim paint attempts, as Milwaukee played off Adebayo as part of its plan to protect the paint and dared him to take midrange jumpers.
“I feel like he needs to be more aggressive,” Dragic said of Adebayo. “I’m not saying to take that midrange shot. But he has got that ability to put the ball on the floor and be more physical and try to challenge him at the rim. I know Lopez is big. But I think Bam has that quality that he can score in many ways against him.”
Butler shot 0 of 9 on non-rim two-point attempts and took a season-high nine threes against a Bucks defense that also played off him in certain situations to force him into outside shots. The Bucks used Antetokounmpo as Butler’s primary defender for most of Game 1, which is a change from last year’s series when Milwaukee primarily used Wesley Matthews and Khris Middleton on him.
“I think that’s on me,” Butler said of the Heat’s lack of opportunities around the rim. “I got to do a better job of attacking downhill, forcing some type of help and getting the ball to the perimeter.”
With the Bucks’ scheme keeping defenders in the paint and around the basket, the Heat’s usually effective cutting game was absent in Game 1. Miami, which averaged 12.4 points off cuts to the basket in the regular season, scored just six points off cuts on Saturday.
“We knew obviously going in that was what we were going to see,” Robinson said. “That’s what [Lopez] does and he’s one of the best in the league at protecting the rim. They do a good job of keeping him back there and bullying and muscling through screens and trying to slide under and make it tough on guards. It’s give and take.”
That give and take led to some quality three-point looks for the Heat. Miami shot 20 of 50 from deep in Game 1, setting new franchise playoff records with 20 made threes and 50 three-point attempts.
But not even that outside shooting performance, which led to an eye-opening 60-15 edge from behind the three-point line for the Heat, was enough for Miami on Saturday. To put together a complete offensive performance against the Bucks’ defense, the Heat also needs to convert on more midrange and non-rim paint opportunities.
“It’s not like they’re going to all of a sudden just give easy baskets at the rim,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You’re going to have to do things with pace and purpose and move them and do things sometimes to the second and third layer.”
The Heat knows the shots that will be there for them against the Bucks. Now Miami just needs to make more of them.
“It’s going to be a series of adjustments,” Robinson said. “You’re not going to be able to just win doing one thing, and we know that. So that requires us to adjust and adapt and find a way to win.”
