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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The Heat won its second game in a row with its new starting lineup, putting down the Wild Horses, minus Luka Dončić.

Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Bam Adebayo had the Heat down 15-18 at the first substitution, nearly six minutes into the first quarter. Their biggest early mistakes were allowing consecutive interior breakdowns to Klay Thompson and Quentin Grimes for scores; then Derek Lively recovered two Dallas misses, hooking one back in and feeding Kyrie Irving at the arc with the other.

Yet, Highsmith defended Irving well, denying him at the rim and tracking his dribble from the perimeter to the paint to force another miss. On top of that, the Heat started deploying the zone at the end of the first quarter.

And Adebayo was the source of the offense, putting up nine points at long and short distances.

In frame two, Irving scored eight points, dribbling to his sweet spot for a jumper, making a second chance hook and nailing a trey.

But Herro and Butler feasted for the Heat. The former scored using the double screen to get free at close range and then blew by Irving for a layup. The latter produced at the line, in transition and on a baseline jumper.

Defensively, the Heat kept incorporating zone with man-to-man coverage.

At halftime, the hosts were up 56-51. The crew had 26 paint points, one on the break, two via second chances, 14 off turnovers and 18 from the bench.

The Mavericks had 30 interior points, none in the open court, nine on extra tries, five off turnovers and nine from the reserves.

Then Thompson gashed the hosts for seven points in the first few minutes of the third quarter. Naji Marshall and Lively combined for seven of eight baskets, too. Yet the Heat’s defense keyed in on Irving, preventing zero makes in three tries from deep.

For the Heat, Butler added eight points from the line and on drives into the lane. And Pelle Larson provided four baskets with no misses from deep and short range.

The Heat entered the fourth quarter ahead 89-84, but its small cushion quickly evaporated.

The protections failed to stop Irving from getting to the paint and splashing treys. Subsequently, P.J. Washington’s putback dunk extended Dallas’ lead to three points.

Next, Butler retook the advantage on a left-side reverse layup. But Irving snatched it back with a jumper over Butler.

Afterward, Herro took a dumb seven-foot shot, getting denied by Spencer Dinwiddie, and Larson had to foul Irving to send him to the line. Yet, Irving made one.

As Robinson checked in the ball on the sideline, Butler cut toward the basket, caught the rock and dunked through contact to tie.

In overtime, the Heat held the Mavericks to two of 10 field goals. Moves from Alec Burks, Adebayo and Butler sealed the win.

The Heat won 123-118. The team had 62 paint points, four on the break, 18 via second chances, 17 off turnovers and 45 from the bench.

Butler had 33 points on 11 of 17 attempts, with nine rebounds, six assists, one steal, two blocks and three turnovers.

Adebayo scored 20 points on 40% accuracy, with 11 rebounds, five assists and two turnovers.

Herro put up 18 digits on eight of 25 attempts, with 10 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one giveaway.

And Larson had 14 points, making six of eight shots, with five rebounds and one assist.

The Mavericks had 66 interior points, six in the open court, 24 on extra tries, 15 off turnovers and 37 from the reserves.

After the game, Butler affectionately said, “I hate to say it. Duncan made an incredible pass,” referring to the connection that forced overtime.

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said, “It seemed like it was a foul,” regarding Butler’s basket to tie the game.

Observations:

1. Adebayo had a sharp first quarter but didn’t score again until early in the third frame. Three of his eight field goals were 3-pointers from the right corner and up top. Additionally, he had a season-high in 3-point attempts (6).

2. Highsmith disrupted Dallas’ actions but played only 19 minutes because he wasn’t feeling well. He was doing a fine job of defusing Irving.

3. Butler missed five free throws. Furthermore, it was his second straight game scoring at least 30 points. The last time he did that was in 2023-24, between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2.

4. Herro (10), Adebayo (11) and Kevin Love (11) had double-digit rebounds and Butler had nine. The Heat’s 57 rebounds is the second-best mark of the season.

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Strahinja Jokić, the older brother of the Denver Nuggets center, will continue his court case on Jan. 6 with a plea and setting hearing for a third-degree assault charge that stemmed from a savage punch against a fan at Ball Arena during a game versus the Los Angeles Lakers in April. The battering left the victim with a concussion, bruising and lacerations. 

A witness captured video of the incident. S. Jokić is 6-foot-9 and weighs 287 pounds. The person he struck appears to be of normal size.

S. Jokić came alone for his court date on Tuesday, save for his attorney, Abraham Hutt. Originally, a plea and setting hearing was scheduled, but Hutt requested and was granted extra time to negotiate with the City Attorney’s office.

On Aug. 21, S. Jokić’s fingerprints and photograph were taken for the case. Additionally, a protection order was enacted that day, barring him from contact with the victim, per court documents.

S. Jokić previously was in legal trouble in Denver in 2019. Then, he was charged with assault in the second- degree for strangling Maria Jokić, and accused of false imprisonment plus obstructing a telephone or telegraph service. He later accepted a guilty plea for obstructing a phone service and trespassing in a deferred prosecution arrangement, eliminating the charges. The trespassing charge was removed in 2022. 

The undermanned Heatles were behind the all-game in a failed effort to snatch two straight victories at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The guests shot poorly in the square, were hurt in the open court and were outrebounded by seven. 

In the first quarter, the Heat was late to contest three-point shots and missed its own deep looks, save for 17-year veteran Kevin Love and Duncan Robinson, who prevented early annihilation. But Pascal Siakam did most of the damage for the Pacers with seven consecutive points at the end of the first quarter, dribbling into the lane for jumpers and splashing a triple.

The Heat entered the second frame down eight points. Indiana’s TJ McConnell and Siakam successfully fired in the interior on the dribble. Myles Turner flushed a powerful open-court jam on Nikola Jović and made a 3-pointer as the trailer. And the Pacers scored instantly on three Heat giveaways.

But the guests countered with Robinson and Josh Richardson canning two transition trays plus Bam Adebayo nailing a mid-range jumper and finishing twice at close range. Defensively, they allowed two of nine 3-pointers and forced two turnovers in the passing lane in the sequence. 

The Heat was down at halftime, 49-52. Additionally, the team had 16 paint points, 14 on the break, nine via second chances, 12 off turnovers and 23 from the bench. 

The Pacers had 28 interior marks, 11 in the open court, zero on extra tries, nine after turnovers and eight from the reserves.

Afterward, the Heat deployed a 2-3 zone and Adebayo carried the offense, making four of eight attempts. But the Pacers throttled to a 16-point lead via multiple trays, a trip to the line and Turner plus Siakam attacking the close-range mismatch. 

The Heat entered the fourth quarter down 75-85. Then Tyler Herro lifted the crew from the gutter with 19 points, burying five of six trifectas and taking two trips to the line, never missing. He also set up Adebayo’s second 3-pointer. And Robinson tied the game, making a deep shot on the left side over Siakam. 

But Tyrese Haliburton responded, pouring in back-to-back 3-pointers. Turner finished the fourth quarter with 10 points on four of eight shots. And Siakam scored on a mismatch against Rozier from the top to the cup. 

The Heat lost, 110-119. The team had 28 paint points, 16 on the break, nine via second chances, 18 off turnovers and 42 from the bench.

Herro had 28 points on eight of 18 shots, with four rebounds, four assists, one steal and a turnover. 

Adebayo put up 24 points on 50% accuracy, with eight rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. 

And Robinson had 20 digits on six of 10 attempts, with four rebounds, four assists and two turnovers. 

The Pacers had 62 interior points, 18 in the open court, nine on extra tries, nine off turnovers and 22 from the reserves.

Turner dropped 34 points on 14 of 23 attempts, with nine rebounds, one assist and two blocks.

Siakam had 23 points on 81.8% shooting, with four rebounds, three assists, a steal and two turnovers. 

Bennedict Mathurin logged 21 points on six of 10 looks, with 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a turnover. 

And Haliburton had 16 points on 30.8% accuracy, with three rebounds, 13 assists and two blocks.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said the Pacers “were able to control big muscle areas of the game.”

Observations:

1. It’s time to bench Terry Rozier. His best work was providing four offensive rebounds, scoring on two of them up close in the first half. But he misfired all five of his 3-point attempts and was not an impact player down the stretch.

In 2017, Spoelstra cut Dion Waiters’ minutes, then eventually put him back in the starting lineup when he earned it, and he blossomed before popping his ankle. It may be time to do the same thing with Rozier. 

2. Adebayo made his eighth and ninth 3-pointers of the season. He’s now shooting 30% from deep (9/30). 

3. Jaime Jaquez Jr. hurt his right ankle, stepping on McConnell’s foot after missing a baseline jumper in the third quarter. He was assisted to the tunnel and then limped to the locker room.  After the game, he said that he would have a better idea of the severity of the injury by Monday. 

4. Herro entered the fourth quarter with three of 11 baskets logged. His 19 points make him the seventh Heat player to log at least that many in the fourth quarter of a regular season game. The others were Dwyane Wade, who did it seven times, plus Kelly Olynyk, Goran Dragić, Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo and Duncan Robinson.

5. Haliburton had 13 dimes and zero turnovers. He picked the Heat apart on the break and in the half-court, finding cutters.

6. Two back-breaking plays: the corner triple Jović gave up to Turner in the last three minutes because he was sagged off too far. And Turner hit a right-wing pick-and-pop 3-pointer because Jović bit on a pump fake.

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