Mateo’s Hoop Diary: No Giannis, no problem for the Bucks getting a clutch time win versus the Heat in Miami

The Heat failed to complete a 22-point comeback against the Milwaukee Bucks minus their All-Star freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo. His absence was no issue because Damian Lillard wasted coverages, and the rest of the Bucks converted 41% of their hoisted treys, as Erik Spoelstra was outcoached by Laurence Fishburne. 

First, Lillard led the stampede, draining four 3-pointers and a five-foot shot in the opening quarter. Through seven-and-a-half minutes, he had 17 points as the Heat had 13.

On the other side, close-range attempts were bricked, and the threes weren’t falling.

Within a few minutes into the second quarter, the Bucks ran up a 15-point lead. The Heat’s offense wasn’t the problem in this frame, as it took 15 free throws and made nine of 16 shots. The protections were lit up further by eight 3-pointers supplied by Lillard, Brook Lopez plus four other Bucks. 

At halftime, the Heat was down 51-65. The crew had 22 paint points, one on the break, two via second chances, eight off turnovers and 13 from the bench.

The Bucks had 10 paint points, nine on the break, none on extra tries, 12 off turnovers and 20 from the reserves. 

Out of intermission, the visitors raised the lead to 22 points within a few minutes into the period. Next, the Heat’s defense intensified by 20°, permitting the Bucks 33% of attempted treys in the third quarter. 

Jimmy Butler ate into the deficit with three fastbreak buckets and three freebies. And Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson connected on four 3-pointers in nine attempts to cut the score to 85-80 in favor of the visitors. 

In the fourth quarter, the defense was strict, too, allowing 27.3% of Milwaukee’s shots to drop. Lillard missed both his tries in eight minutes and Gary Trent Jr. was shut down as well. Yet, the guests added a cushion of five digits at the line.

On the other side, Terry Rozier erupted for 13 points with no misses on a drive-by and four deep jumpers.

But when the Heat was down 103-106 with a second left, Rozier took too long to fire after the inbound because he took a dribble.

The Heat lost 103-106, dropping them to 1-2 in Emirates Cup play and 7-8 for the regular season. The team had 46 paint points, 13 on the break, nine via second chances, 17 off turnovers and 33 from the bench. 

The Bucks had 18 paint points, nine in the open court, five on extra tries, 16 off turnovers and 31 from the reserves. 

Observations:

1. Despite Lillard’s first-half rampage, an opportunity to bolster the record was lost. Playing down to the level of competition is reminiscent of last year’s squad.

2. Butler had one of his better performances of the season. Yet, Herro and Adebayo didn’t do enough around him- the former missed too many deep shots, and the latter didn’t throw his weight around enough in the paint in Giannis’ absence, finishing with four free throw attempts.

3. The Heat were outrebounded by three, yet we were careful with the ball, only committing eight giveaways.

4. Lillard had 25 points at intermission and 37 at the conclusion. Eight of 10 field goals were 3-pointers. 

5. Spoelstra ran out of patience with the understudy, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and played him 12 minutes because he was a liability on both sides.

6. The Heat missed seven free throws- Butler bricked two. Robinson, Adebayo, Herro, Rozier, and Pelle Larson missed one. Ball players don’t look professional failing on free throws.

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