Heat collapse into 0-3 playoff hole with feeble 113-84 loss to Bucks
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These playoffs, where the Miami Heat stand at an NBA statistical point of no return, neither were decided when the Milwaukee Bucks scored 46 points in the first quarter of Monday night’s Game 2 nor when they limited the Heat to 36 in the first half of Thursday night’s Game 3.
No, this 0-3 hole in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series transcends even the unsightliness of Thursday night’s 113-84 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena, the most lopsided home playoff loss in the franchise’s 33 seasons.
Instead, it is about how the Heat left themselves positioned for this humiliation in the first place, when as little as one more regular-season win, in a regular season of several hideous losses, could have prevented landing as the No. 6 seed against the meatgrinder that has proven to be the No. 3 Bucks.
Not only has no team recovered from 0-3 to win an NBA best-of-seven series, but only three have even forced a Game 7. As it is, the Heat now have been outscored by 63 points the last two games, the worst two-game deficit in franchise history.
“Everything can seem overwhelming if you look at the whole big picture,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You take it one step at a time. We’re capable of playing good enough to win a game, and that’s all our focus has to be right now.”
For now, the goal is a single win for survival, and a measure of dignity, with Game 4 at 1:30 Saturday back at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Even with near-capacity attendance, the Heat came out flat and never offered anything sustained other than the relentlessness of Jimmy Butler, who closed with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Otherwise, there were the 17 points and eight rebounds from Bam Adebayo that were built on empty calories when the game was decided, eight points from replacement starter Goran Dragic and unceasing inaccuracy from the Heat’s perimeter players.
It hardly was enough to compete with the inside dominance of Giannis Antetokounmpo, with his 17 rebounds and 17 points, as well as the 22 points from Khris Middleton and the 19 points and 12 assists of Jrue Holiday.
“We’ll take a look and we’ll work to get some solutions,” Spoelstra said.
Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday’s game:
1. Butler perseveres: The 49-36 halftime deficit could have been far worse if not for 16 first-half points from Butler.
Butler shot 6 of 12 from the field and 2 of 3 on 3-pointers over the opening two periods, with the rest of the Heat 8 of 33 from the field and 2 of 13 on threes. Butler also had a team-high six rebounds at the intermission.
Butler’s takeaway? “Just how fast it got out of hand. We didn’t really take too much away.”
Which makes that the only goal going forward.
“We’ve got to pick who we want to be,” he said. “Be physical and make things much more tougher. And then I think you’ve got to live with the result.”
2. Bam too late: In a game when his fire was needed from the outset, Adebayo shot 1 of 5 in the first quarter, with one rebound, before being forced to the bench with a second foul.
At halftime, he stood 2 of 6 from the field, for four points.
While he came around statistically in the third period, much of it was window dressing, with the Heat going into the fourth quarter down 86-60.
“Bottom line, backs are against the wall. So it’s literally win or go home,” Adebayo said. “Got to conquer that doubt.”
3. Lineup shift: Dragic was in and Kendrick Nunn was out of the starting lineup, with Spoelstra opting for a shakeup.
It was no panacea, with the Heat down 26-14 at the end of the opening period, shooting 6 of 23 from the field and 2 of 8 on 3-pointers over the opening 12 minutes.
Dragic was scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting in the first quarter. Nunn, who played as the Heat’s fourth reserve, also was scoreless, missing his only shot during the period.
“My shots didn’t drop,” said Dragic, who closed 3 for 14 from the field. “We just need to figure out how to make those shots.”
4. Rebounding, again: The Bucks outrebounded the Heat 22-10 in the first period, with Antetokounmpo up to eight by the close of the quarter.
One Bucks possession late in the opening period featured four consecutive Milwaukee offensive rebounds (by Bobby Portis, P.J. Tucker, Tucker again, and then Portis again) before a Portis layup.
“We’re just not attacking the ball the way we’re supposed to,” Butler said.
The Bucks’ rebounding edge stood at 35-21 at halftime, closing at 55-42.
“Obviously, that’s been a major part of the series,” Spoelstra said. “Tonight, I thought it was more out inability to put the ball in the basket than it was the rebounding. The rebounding just compounded some frustrating possessions.”
5. Fan fare: The Heat’s first playoff home game since 2018 also was the Heat’s first game with capacity attendance since March 2020, with most pandemic-related seating limitations eliminated.
The crowd was listed at a sellout at 17,000.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Adebayo said of having a large crowd again.
The only three players remaining from the last time the Heat played a postseason home game, in the 2018 first round against the Philadelphia 76ers, are Adebayo, Dragic and Udonis Haslem.
All of the Heat’s playoff games during their run to the 2020 NBA Finals were played in the quarantine bubble at Disney World.
The crowd did its part, loudly counting out 10-second counts, to no avail, each time Antetokounmpo prepared for free throws.