Heat collapses in second half against Bucks to get swept out of first round of playoffs
It was starting to feel too familiar for the Miami Heat, which all year long has bemoaned its inability to string four good quarters together on both ends of the court. It was a year, just months removed from a thrilling run to the 2020 NBA Finals, of constant frustration. The Heat knew it could be better — knew it should be better — because of what it did in the 2020 NBA Bubble and in spurts throughout the 2020-21 NBA season.
No one articulated it better than Udonis Haslem, when a 12-point Miami lead had dissolved entirely in the opening six minutes of a disastrous third quarter to let the Milwaukee Bucks rally for a 120-103 win in Game 4 to sweep the Heat out of the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs. The 40-year-old power forward took to the center of Miami’s timeout huddle and threw a chair to the ground, He screamed at Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, and everyone else getting ready to go in the game. He swung his arms every which way to try to get the Heat to save its season in Miami.
A few moments later, Khris Middleton hit a pair of free throws and the Bucks took the lead for good with 6:52 left in the third quarter. Less than seven months after it took the Los Angeles Lakers to six games in the NBA Finals, the Heat’s season is over with a 4-0 series loss to the Bucks. For only the second time in franchise history, Miami is on the wrong end of a sweep in a best-of-7 series and with the four losses coming by an average of 20.5 points.
“They absolutely seized those moments of truth during the course of a game,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There’s always a bunch of little skirmishes that happen during these three- or four-minute runs and they were able to control the majority of them this series. In the third quarter, we did miss some shots that probably could have given us a little bit of different life, but you also — if you’re them, you have to capitalize on that and they did.
When they had to make shots, they did. When they had to get a stop in this series, they were able to do it.”
Milwaukee, after falling to the Heat in the second round of the 2020 NBA playoffs to kickstart the Miami’s unlikely Finals run, finally got its revenge by blowing out the Miami for the third straight game to finish off a dominant opening-round performance.
After losing Game 1 in overtime and getting essentially blown off the court by the end of the first quarter in the next two games, the Heat blew a double-digit lead in front of 17,000 at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday to bow out of the NBA playoffs.
Miami opened with its best half of the playoffs and took a 64-57 lead into halftime. The Heat shot 52.2 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range, and held the Bucks to 41.2 and 28.6. Miami, which never led by more than seven in the first three games of the series, led by as much as 12 in the second quarter before Milwaukee closed the half on an 11-6 run.
Butler had 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the first half, and Adebayo added 10 points and seven rebounds after he averaged just 14 points total in the first three of the series. As importantly, the role players stepped up. Wing Trevor Ariza, who didn’t score at all in Games 2 and 3, scored 11 in the first half, while combo guard Tyler Herro added 10.
Middleton and superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo combined for just 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting in the first half for the Bucks, while sharpshooting guard Bryn Forbes kept them afloat with 13 points and four three-pointers. Once its star forwards sprung to life, Milwaukee buried the Heat.
It took all of 5:08 in the third quarter for Miami’s seven-point halftime lead to vanish. The Bucks took a 69-68 lead on Middleton’s free throws and the lead swelled all the to 81-70 — the product of a 24-6 run to start the second half — before Herro finally stopped the bleeding with two free throws with 4:20 left in the third.
The Heat never cut Milwaukee’s lead any closer than five in the rest of the second half. Antetokounmpo finished with a triple-double with 20 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds, and Middleton added 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Forbes scored 22 on 7-of-14 shooting from three.
While Adebayo had his best performance of the postseason with 20 points and 14 rebounds, Butler finished with just 12 points after his 10-point first half, although did also have a triple-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
“We couldn’t get shots to fall. We had some great looks,” guard Kendrick Nunn said. “We have great talent in the locker room, so we’ve seen it work before. They just came out with better intensity and brought a physicality to the game that kind of slowed us down.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2021 at 3:52 PM.
