This was not a street journey that soured on the end, with Saturday night time’s 123-115 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks closing out a weeklong 1-3 tour.
This was a Miami Heat journey that soured firstly, with final Sunday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets upping the ante and the Heat in a position to meet the remaining challenges solely within the victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And after Thursday’s loss to the New York Knicks, the ante solely turned extra extreme, with Giannis Antetokounmpo within the Bucks’ lineup for the primary time within the groups’ three conferences.
A triple-double later from Antetokounmpo, and the Heat, with Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo sidelined, limp house regardless of 32 factors Saturday night time from Jimmy Butler, 24 from Tyler Herro and a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double from Bam Adebayo.
“You definitely have to go home disappointed,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra mentioned. “You have to maximize every opportunity when you’re on a road trip like this. It’s hard to win on the road. We’ll gather ourselves.”
Antetokounmpo completed with 35 factors, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, supported by 24 factors from Khris Middleton.
Antetokounmpo entered having scored 50 or extra in two of his earlier three video games, and three of his earlier 11. It was Antetokounmpo’s profession thirty second regular-season triple-double.
“I felt like we had bodies in front of him in the fourth quarter, but he was able to draw fouls and still get to the rim,” Spoelstra mentioned of Antetokounmpo scoring 10 within the last interval. “But that’s what great players do, they get to their strengths.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday’s sport:
1. Closing time: The Heat fell behind 12 early, trailed 34-26 on the finish of the opening interval, however rallied to a 62-62 halftime tie. The Bucks then took a 94-92 lead into the fourth.
With Butler on the bench, the Bucks then moved forward by 10 early within the last interval, earlier than the Heat closed inside 112-106 with 3:20 to play.
The Bucks then moved to an 11-point lead on a Jrue Holiday 3-pointer, the Heat unable to get nearer than 5 from there.
“We did not get enough stops in the fourth quarter. It felt like 40,” Spoelstra mentioned of the Bucks outscoring the Heat 29-23 within the fourth.
2. More Butler: Butler stored the Heat afloat early by making all 5 of his first-quarter free throws, as much as 15 factors by halftime.
He then scored 12 straight Heat factors early in his 17-point third interval, a run that included a 3-pointer and put the Heat up 77-75. He went into the fourth with 32 factors.
“Jimmy was able to get to his spots pretty much all night long. That was good to see,” Spoelstra mentioned.
The heavy lifting, nevertheless, appeared to take a toll, with Butler restricted after returning halfway by way of the fourth quarter, scoreless within the interval.
He completed 11 of 21 from the sphere and 9 of 10 from the road, with eight rebounds.
“We had a chance tonight,” he mentioned. “Get some stops, not turn the ball over, get the correct shots, we’ll be better.”
3. Filling it up: Scoreless within the first interval, a interval he additionally went with no rebound, Adebayo got here round to maneuver to eight factors and 5 rebounds on the intermission.
He then reached a double-double by the midpoint of the third interval.
“Bam was in his spots,” Spoelstra mentioned.
Like Antetomounmpo, Adebayo additionally had his moments as facilitator, main the Heat with eight assists.
4. Hometown Herro: An evening after having his No. 14 retired at a suburban Milwaukee High School, Herro beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer and was as much as 18 halftime factors.
Herro was not shy together with his makes an attempt, at 8 of 14 from the sphere on the intermission.
He then cooled with solely two third-period factors.
“Tyler at different points in the game was able to be very efficient,” Spoelstra mentioned.
He completed 10 of 24 from the sphere, compelled to play extra as playmaker with Lowry and Oladipo out.
“There were better efforts we could have made at the end,” Herro mentioned. “We didn’t start the game again. But we fought, though.”
5. Rotation revision: While the Heat backcourt required the most important shakeup, with Lowry and Oladipo out, maybe the most important shock was Dewayne Dedmon seeing his first motion since his one-game Jan. 12 suspension for conduct detrimental to the group.
Spoelstra mentioned he felt Dedmon was wanted towards the scale of Bucks heart Brook Lopez.
“A little bit of size,” Spoelstra mentioned of his reasoning, “particularly Lopez, He’s unique how big he is.”
Dedmon, suspended after exchanging phrases on the bench Jan. 10 with Spoelstra, entered because the Heat’s first reserve.
It proved to be a largely uneven return, ending scoreless on 0-for-4 taking pictures, with two rebounds in 12 minutes.
“After I got my second wind,” Dedmon mentioned, “I was fine.”
With the Heat shorthanded, Haywood Highsmith appeared in his second consecutive sport after not taking part in within the earlier two.
Gabe Vincent began at level guard rather than Lowry, with Max Strus the lone Heat guard obtainable off the bench.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
