Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat’s Poor Defense Leads to Blowout in Game 2 in Milwaukee

Without the Greek Freak after 11 minutes in Game 1, Miami’s offense was as potent as a medical-grade tranquilizer. In Wednesday’s match without Antetokounmpo, the attack held up, but production on the other side crashed like the Hindenburg.

The Heat is a mess. Losing on the road to a team without the best player in the world can be forgiven. But what can’t be is how hard it was thumped. The visitors hung around for a quarter before the herd of stags trampled them and ripped away at the paint.

Brook Lopez exploited Miami’s guards for six close-range finishes to start when Bam Adebayo matched up with Bobby Portis. Jimmy Butler responded on the other side with 13 points. He attacked the drop coverage when zipping past a screen and took Lopez off the dribble from the top to the cup for a layup.

In the opening period, the Heatles, aside from Butler, converted five of 16 attempts. The Bucks contested well on pick-and-pop plays and when snipers curled around screens. On top of that, Miami was down on the glass again, giving up seven additional boards that turned into eight shots for Milwaukee.

In quarter one of Game 1, the Heat uncommonly operated at 15.24 pace-points higher than its season average (112) and generated four more shots on goal. The start of Game 2 was the opposite. Miami was slow getting down the court and didn’t get many opportunities to score without the defense set.

At the end of the second quarter, the host’s lead swelled to 31 points, but the Heat cut it to 26 at intermission. There wasn’t much hope for a comeback. By this point, Milwaukee doubled Miami’s inside action (40-20) and held its rivals to 29.4% shooting behind the arc.

Butler and Co. opened the third frame on an 11-5 run, but it wasn’t enough to sustain the eight straight buckets the Bucks logged or its nine of 14 trifectas.

This play can sum up what kind of night it was for the Heat: Khris Middleton recovered a defensive rebound and his mouthpiece off the floor. Next, he dribbled up court to blow by Vincent for an 11-foot jumper.

Duncan Robinson started the match out of necessity, with Tyler Herro absent with two broken fingers. He was the lone player from the initial five-man unit to record a minute of the fourth quarter. Coach Erik Spoelstra waved his white flag before the last period started.

At the postgame presser, Spo referred to Milwaukee’s showing as an avalanche.

“They had some good, clean, easy looks in the beginning,” Spo said. “Once they got on a roll, they were hitting some tough step-backs… Anytime there was a momentum shift, they seemed to knock down a big one. You have to credit them with that. We had an idea that they were going to shoot 50 plus and they answered the bell on that and then some.”

When it was Butler’s turn in front of reporters, he cited Milwaukee’s inside finishes and 3-point shots as the reason for the blowout.

“I feel like we were not protecting the paint,” Butler said. “Whoever was getting in there and getting layups…It’s all about putting body on body, not slipping in space, being more physical, and whenever they kick it out to the three, close out, run them off the line and do it all over again.”

The Heat will not practice on Thursday.