The Miami Heat have been officially eliminated from the NBA In-Season tournament after losing to the Milwaukee Bucks, 131-124. This marks their third straight loss and second straight in regards to the inaugural tourney.
There's no moral victories in sports, but the Heat were very competitive against a dangerous Milwaukee team, even without the likes of Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith, and Tyler Herro. So in retrospect, the Heat were down three starters and still almost won to a team that is one of the favorites not to just come out of the Eastern Conference, but possibly to win the NBA Championship.
Bam Adebayo once again showed out as he scored 31 points while collecting 10 rebounds and recording five assists. Kyle Lowry would go on to have an efficient game with 21 points and six assists. Even Josh Richardson looked like his oldself in his previous stint with Miami as he contributed 20 points of his own with seven assists.
Here are three takeaways from the Heat's loss to the Bucks in the final group play game of the In-Season tournament:
First half barnburner
It was an up-and-down first half for the Heat as they started slow, going down 12-2 early while only making one of their eight shot attempts from the field. While Miami would eventually find their footing, the first quarter was a forgettable one as the Bucks would lead by 13 at one point.
The second quarter is truly where the Heat hit their groove and were exceptional on both ends of the floor. Out of Bam Adebayo's 15 first half points, eight crucial ones came in the second quarter as his jumper game continues to impress. Kyle Lowry and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. would also contribute eight points in the period.
Jaquez had some eye-opening buckets that not a normal rookie would make as he faked Bucks defenders and was hyper-concentrated when driving to the basket. Miami would take the lead towards the middle and especially the ending portion of the first half.
They needed more of the same offensively, whereas defensively, the team held superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard both to 13 points.
A dramatic second half for Miami
It was a grueling back-and-forth affair in the second half as Miami and Milwaukee were trading blows from one another. The Heat translated their momentum from the first to the last half, but the game came down to the last few minutes.
What was asked of the Heat was to keep up with the Bucks and close out the game. The first part of the puzzle they did, but the team couldn't close out the game when it counted and ran out of steam.
While the common saying is a “tale of two halves,” the second half of this game was it's own story as the Heat outscored the Bucks in the third quarter carrying a four-point lead into the last period. What would result in the fourth is the worst quarter defensively giving up 38 points to the Bucks and only scoring 27.
While they kept Antetokounmpo and Lillard somewhat in check with 13 points each in the first half, they scored 20 and 19 points respectively in the second half. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game that the two have the ability to score 50 combined in a contest. Tonight, they combined for 65 points.
However, if the Heat can find some credence, it was a mostly clean game as they committed six turnovers and had 32 assists. It was a solid night, but all for naught.
Heat eliminated from the In-Season Tournament
The loss marks the end of the Heat's tenure in the NBA In-Season tournament where they couldn't make it out of the group stage. It would've been hard anyways, even if they won, as the Knicks took care of business against the Charlotte Hornets 115-91.
Even if Miami would've won, they needed to beat Milwaukee by massive double-digits according to Ira Winderman, which by the way the game was going, it wasn't likely to be the case. The Heat started 2-0 in the group play stage after beating the Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets, but the loss to the Knicks was the start of the team's downfall in the tourney.
A ton of stuff needed to go the way of Miami to not just win the group, but even make the wild card. While they'll be sitting at home watching the tourney at home instead of playing in Las Vegas, the Heat look to break their three-game losing streak in their next game Thursday against the Indiana Pacers.
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