3 takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ 108-102 loss to the Miami Heat

In a battle between two severely-shorthanded squads, the Miami Warmth obtained the most effective of the Milwaukee Bucks, 108-102, handy the latter their tenth street lack of the season. The Bucks performed with out two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and fellow starters Khris Middleton and Grayson Allen, who suffered a sprained ankle on Wednesday night time’s win over the Atlanta Hawks. Additionally sidelined have been Serge Ibaka and Joe Ingles. Listed here are three takeaways from the Bucks’ loss to the Warmth.

Fatigue setting in?

Taking part in the again finish of a back-to-back, Milwaukee confirmed early that they nonetheless had some gasoline left within the tank as they led by as a lot as 15 within the first half. Nonetheless, Miami simply caught up and even briefly took the lead late within the second quarter, 45-43, after two free-throws by Warmth star Jimmy Butler. Miami then took over the sport with a 12-2 run to finish the third with a 78-73 lead—one thing they didn’t hand over till the ultimate buzzer.

“It was a type of video games the place we made some pictures early, we missed some pictures late, I assumed there was some fatigue that set in from the back-to-back which might occur occasionally,” Bucks ahead Pat Connaughton mentioned.

Lopez struggles

With Antetokounmpo out, a lot of the heavy lifting was left within the fingers of All-Stars Jrue Vacation and Brook Lopez. Vacation stored his stellar play going with 24 factors and 11 assists.

Nonetheless, Lopez dropped the ball on this sport, ending with simply six factors. The large man was off all night time lengthy, lacking 10 of his 12 pictures. He added three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Happily, different gamers stepped as much as assist the Bucks keep within the sport till the tip. Jevon Carter, Jordan Nwora, and AJ Inexperienced got here off the bench and lit it up from past the arc, making a mixed 15 trifectas. Carter made six three-pointers and scored 18, Nwora had 16, whereas Inexperienced chipped in 15 for the Bucks.

The Bucks misplaced the battle contained in the shaded lane

Milwaukee is the league’s greatest rebounding crew, whereas Miami is ranked twenty eighth in that class. On the sport’s finish, the Warmth received the rebounding battle by a large margin, 61-39. Miami additionally had their method contained in the paint, outscoring Milwaukee 58-18, together with this super slam by Bam Adebayo.