HEAT RALLIES TO AVENGE EMBARRASSING LOSS TO BUCKS
There were plenty of bright spots for the Miami Heat in a challenging 2020, and the final game of the year is on that list of positives.
After an ugly 47-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday that tied for the second-most lopsided defeat in franchise history, the shorthanded Heat bounced back just 24 hours later to earn a hard-fought 119-108 win over the Bucks on Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat (2-2) was without All-Star wing Jimmy Butler (sprained right ankle) for both games against the Bucks.
Miami trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but closed the period on a 30-19 run to enter the fourth quarter down by just three points.
Family and friends were allowed at this week’s games, but when fans can attend has not been decided, 19A
From there, the Heat outscored the Bucks 31-17 in a dominant fourth-quarter performance behind nine fourth-quarter points from veteran guard Goran Dragic.
Dragic finished with a team-high 26 points while shooting 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-7 shooting on threes, five rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
Heat guard Tyler Herro also put together an impressive stat line with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 15 rebounds and four assists.
Next up for the Heat is a quick one-game trip for a Friday night matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Bucks:
After a relatively quiet performance in Tuesday’s blowout loss, Heat center Bam Adebayo took a much more aggressive offensive approach into Wednesday’s game.
Adebayo finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and two blocks in 35 minutes. He finished Tuesday’s defeat with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, six rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes.
The midrange shot was a big part of Adebayo’s offensive performance on Wednesday, as he made four of his six non-paint shots.
Adebayo was also tasked with defending two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for most of the game. Antetokounmpo finished with a triple-double
that included 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Heat is taking a cautious approach with Butler’s ankle injury, and his status for Friday’s road game against the Mavericks is still up in the air.
Butler, 31, missed his second consecutive game Wednesday because of a sprained right ankle. He also missed Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Bucks.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra classified Butler as “day to day” on Tuesday.
The next question is: Will Butler travel with the Heat for its Friday road game against the Mavericks? That answer is still unknown, with the NBA Health and Safety Protocols recommending that “teams should consider not including in the traveling party a player who is not expected to play in any games on an upcoming road trip” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
If Butler travels with the team for Friday’s game, it will likely be an indication that he’s close to a return.
Butler, 31, injured his right ankle during last week’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic, but he attempted to play through the injury on Christmas Day against the New Orleans Pelicans. Butler recorded four points, six rebounds and five assists 16 first-half minutes in Friday’s win over the Pelicans, but right ankle stiffness forced him to miss the second half.
The Heat is now 1-1 without Butler this season. Miami was 6-9 in the 15 games Butler missed last season.
Without Butler, the Heat used its fourth different starting lineup in the first four games of the season.
On Wednesday, guard Avery Bradley and forward Andre Iguodala inserted into Miami’s starting lineup. Herro, Duncan Robinson and Adebayo are the only Heat players who have started each of the first four games.
Four different starting lineups in four games is a sign Spoelstra is still working to find the right rotation combinations, especially with Butler unavailable. It’s the first time in franchise history that the Heat has used four different starting lineups in the season’s first four games in.
Wednesday marked Iguodala’s first start with the Heat since he was traded to Miami last February.
Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Heat early on.
Miami committed 10 first-quarter turnovers for the second consecutive game, and won Wednesday despite 22 turnovers that Milwaukee scored 26 points on. It’s the third time in four games that the Heat has committed 20 or more turnovers to begin the season.
The Heat entered averaging a league-high 20.3 turnovers per game this season.
The Heat also struggled with early-season turnover issues last season, averaging 20.8 turnovers in the first five games, before cleaning things up to finish the season averaging 14.9 turnovers. This is a reminder that just because Miami has started sloppy doesn’t mean it can’t solve its turnover issues in the coming weeks.
2020 was a strange and unique year for many, and the Heat is definitely included on that list.
With Wednesday’s win to close 2020, the Heat posted a regular-season record of 22-22 this calendar year. A .500 regular-season record in the same year that Miami also finished two wins short of an NBA championship in the Walt Disney World bubble.
The Heat recorded a 20-20 regular-season record last season in 2020, including a 3-5 record in seeding games in the bubble.
The year began with an 84-76 win over the Toronto Raptors in a sold-out AmericanAirlines Arena on Jan. 2, which was about two months before the NBA suspended the 2019-20 season because of the pandemic. The year ended Wednesday with a win over the Bucks at AmericanAirlines Arena that featured a socially distanced crowd of about 100 family members and friends of Heat players and staff, and no fans.