Miami Heat has no answers for Milwaukee Bucks. Takeaways from the loss
Let’s cut right to the chase: The Miami Heat lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 124-102 on Saturday at Fiserv Forum to split their two-game road trip.
Any potential momentum that might have come out from the Heat’s win on Friday against the Indiana Pacers was non-existent.
Miami (14-10), playing its third consecutive game without both Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, trailed by 11 after the first quarter and the deficit only grew from there. The Heat was down 17 at halftime and 29 after the third quarter before winning the fourth quarter by a 26-19 margin when the game was out of reach.
“It felt like we were just trying to catch up and were on our heels the entire game,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Heat had no answers for a Bucks team that without Giannis Antetokounmpo as well as starting shooting guard Grayson Allen.
Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton combined for 45 points and Bobby Portis had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Bucks (15-9), who have now won nine of their last 10 games.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
Pick an area of play — any area of play — and the Bucks probably dominated the Heat there.
Let’s start inside. Milwaukee finished with a 57-39 edge in rebounds, 26-11 lead in second-chance points (including 15-0 in the second half) and 48-26 advantage in paint points.
“They took it to us in the paint,” Spoelstra said, “and we just couldn’t grab a hold of that.”
That forced Miami to try to jumpstart its offense from beyond the arc.
Except... they couldn’t get enough momentum for that to work either.
The Heat shot 17 for 43 from three-point range, with most of its success coming in the second half after the game already close to being out of reach. Miami was just 2 for 10 from three in the opening quarter — with both makes coming from center Dewayne Dedmon — and 8 for 22 in the first half overall.
“We didn’t really make shots,” guard Tyler Herro said. “We weren’t able to get open looks.”
Max Strus had a solid game on a night when most struggled.
Strus scored a career-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 6 of 8 from three-point range.
It broke his previous high of 21 set on Feb. 11 last season against the Houston Rockets.
Beyond Strus, Miami’s second-highest scorer was Caleb Martin with 16, with the Heat’s bench as a whole scoring 57 points. No starter scored more than 15 points.
“There were just very few pockets where it felt like guys played well,” Spoelstra said. “Caleb I thought brought a great energy to the game. He was mostly himself out there. Max did some good things, knocked down some shots, but I don’t think anybody’s really thinking about individually who played well because as a team we did not play one of our best games.”
Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson each hit an individual milestone.
Herro was only 4 for 17 from the field, but with 15 points, he eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for his career. At 21 years and 318 days old, he’s the second-youngest Heat player to hit the 2,000-point milestone behind only Michael Beasley (21 years, 45 days). He also tied Sherman Douglas by being the second-quickest Heat player to accomplish the feat, needing just 130 games to get there. Dwyane Wade holds the franchise record, getting to 2,000 points in just 104 games.
Robinson, meanwhile, became the fastest player to make 600 career three-pointers, requiring just 184 games to get there. Donovan Mitchell previously had the record (240 games).
P.J. Tucker gets his ring.
Prior to the game, Tucker, who was a starter during the Bucks’ championship run last season, received his NBA championship ring. Tucker started 19 of Milwaukee’s 23 playoff games, averaging 4.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1 steal per game in that span after playing primarily off the bench during his 20 regular-season games with Milwaukee after being traded to the Bucks midseason by the Houston Rockets.
Tucker signed with the Heat this offseason and has started every game this season for Miami. He entered Saturday averaging 6.8 points per game on 50.4-percent shooting.
“It’s been a great fit,” Spoelstra said. “A lot of similar values on how we view competition. How he approaches games and competitive contests, it’s just very similar to how we do. He’s fit in very seamlessly in that regard. We’ve been a fan of his for a long time. Tonight is a special night as well. He was a big key to their championship run last year. We want to celebrate that with him and and acknowledge that and honor what he was able to accomplish. It’s awesome. The toughest thing to do in this profession is to come collectively together and try to to win a championship.”
Time to head back home.
The Heat plays its next three games at FTX Arena — Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies, Wednesday against the Bucks and Saturday against the Chicago Bulls — before going on a four-game road trip.
In an ideal scenario, Butler will return during this homestand after missing the last four games with a tailbone contusion. Any sort of reinforcement will be welcomed.
“Regardless,” Spoelstra said, “the NBA doesn’t stop. Our schedule doesn’t stop. We have enough, but we have to get back to Miami, get some rest and get ready for the game on Monday, which was what we already talked about in the locker room after the game.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2021 at 10:35 PM.
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