First Half:
Miami struggled to score to start this one, while the Bucks had no trouble with Beasley and Giannis all getting to the rim with ease. Thankfully, Bam ended the drought but only briefly as nobody else on the Heat managed to get a bucket, allowing the Bucks to go up by 13.
The Heat had no answers for nearly 6 minutes until Lowry, and Duncan got on the board. They finally started fighting back with some good offense from Richardson and and Martin.
The Heat’s showing for the first 6 minutes was embarrassing, but after Lowry scored the second bucket of the first quarter at the 6:20 mark Duncan would follow up to get Miami to seven. Josh would explode for free throws and then a quick bucket to get the Heat within four. Finally the Heat had arrived with Miami pulling things back within one.
Bam looked good facing double teams as he found the open man, as Miami’s chief scorer he also showed some how deep his bag is showing out some new post moves. Despite the suspect whistles from NBA officials, Miami was firmly in this game.
With Kevin Love hitting threes, JJJ balling, and Josh Richardson having his best game of the season so far Miami took the lead.
The Bucks and Heat would go back and forth, before things got tied up. Lowry and Bam would close the half with some smart play and a beautiful buckets, to keep the Heat ahead by three.
Second Half:
Kevin Love and Josh Richardson continued to score well to start the second, with Giannis wreaking havoc on the other end. With Kyle also hitting his looks the Heat were firmly in this one despite Giannis and Milwaukee being successful on the other end.
Martin was once again solid, hitting key shots down the stretch in the third. He’s not quite where he was last season, but he’s slowly getting back into his groove. Despite all the success Miami was having on the offensive end, Dame and the Bucks kept things just out of reach for Miami. With Bam playing bully ball, and Duncan hitting his looks the Heat had a chance to take a lead into the fourth, and they did leading by 4 points into the dreaded fourth quarter.
The Heat learning from recent mistakes were aggressive to start the fourth with Duncan, Martin and Bam all delivering early. On the other end Beasley, Middleton and co all fought back to erase Miami’s small lead.
Bam and Jaime fought back with some nice looks, but with Dame attempting a takeover on the other things seemed ambiguous. Thankfully Caleb Martin was legit on both ends hitting a beautiful spin cycle layup, and getting a steal right after.
Still Dame Dolla was trying to put together another hit, as he hit some tough looks but with things tied Miami had a real shot at winning this one. Lowry hit a huge three at the 3:24 mark to give Miami momentum. Miami’s defense was stellar, but the Bucks still had its own moments courtesy of Middleton putting Miami down four on 7-0 run. Bam hit a big bunny to get Miami within two, but a poorly timed foul and technical made things tough. Lowry’s big bucket gave Miami a chance but a Lopez dunk put things just out of reach.
A frustrating loss in what was a spectacular battle, and the end of the in-season tournament for Miami.
That game was very entertaining. The team played hard.
My respect to the Bucks organization. To see Michael Beasley fit in seamlessly into the Bucks starting 5 was impressive. But, more impressive is the acquisition of Dame and Beasley by the Bucks without much fanfare, is to be admired. Whether the Bucks FO demands that the players managers keep it underseal or not, until the trade is consummated is something the Heat’s FO should emulate. I said it before and will say it again. Let him who has eyes read it and understand, let him who has ears hear it again and remember.
The Heat’s management generally does keep things quiet. It was Dame’s agent who opened his big mouth and pissed off Cronin. I’m actually glad he did.
wait what? Michael beasley now plays for the bucks?? Michael ‘Heat prodigal son’ beasley? 😱
Cut him a little slack – he’s not from around here.
No. His brother from another mother…Malik.
Again, it’s not ‘loser talk’, it’s reasonably assessing what may be seen as positive. This by Ira:
”The Heat simply could not close out the game without Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro. The better team closed it out. – Roland, Borrego Springs, Calif.
A: Yes, the Bucks with their entire rotation, including Khris Middleton, are a better team than a Heat roster lacking Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Haywood Highsmith. But that’s why I believe the game has to be viewed through a different prism. If what the Heat put on the court on Tuesday night could play that way against the fully loaded Bucks, then there is a hope that Erik Spoelstra’s team in its totality can do damage against Milwaukee. That was an entertaining night of competitive basketball, which is not always something you get in the NBA in November. But what matters most, and always will matter most, is whether the Heat can put it together when Jimmy and Tyler also are on the court You get those two as their usual selves added to the aggression of Tuesday night’s Bam Adebayo and now with the supporting cast that has been developed of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Josh Richardson, Caleb Martin and even Kevin Love, and better times could be around the corner.”
respect your point of view but u play to win the games.at the end of the year will anybody say jeez that l on nov 28 we played a good game w/o jim and ty.as the great bill parcells would say u are what your record is.the heat when healthy can beat milw bost in playoffs we know that.everybody knows we are a good team.we just need to stack ws .
Yes, of course you must try to win every game, but when you don’t win one, you can determine what worked and what didn’t so you can adjust the next time out. It’s just like life – if you don’t get the new position you want, you don’t mope and complain about it. You figure what you did right, try to eliminate your weaknesses and keep at it until you succeed. If the Heat regress in the next 5-10 games, playing constantly from behind or blowing 4th quarter leads or playing down to the opponent (Detroit), then, yes, this nice effort will mean nothing. But if this jolts them into playing better ball in that period and stacking up some wins, we can possibly look back at this game as a turning point.
In the nba the team with the most talent usually wins.dont think theres anything to work on just be better than your opponent.in the playoffs jimmy is a top 3 type player.does our talent level from 1 to 8 stack up against our opponent.i believe 1 thru 8 we stack up vs any team in the nba except denver.joker just too good.
There are things in life more important than basketball.
Sad to hear of Eric’s divorce. He and Nikki have three beautiful children. It must be hard to be married when half your life is spent on the road. Hopefully, they can remain civil for the sake of the children. Divorce is tough on everyone. I wish them and their children much happiness in the future.
GO HEAT!!!
bummer
I was disappointed to see this, but, life happens. It seems they’ve managed the situation amicably, keeping the children in mind.
May both parties heal. Who knows there is always a possibility for a reunion. Love heals, and always does!
Doesn’t he just married, say, 5-6 year ago?
I don’t really understand that, its a bit immature.
A week ago we celebrate a 60th anniversary of marriage of my wife’s parents. Thats the way it should be.
jaime and caleb together is a nice combo of 2 way players plus jaime is def our third best player.dudes shooting over 50% almost 40 on 3s.great to the rim great passer .and when jimmy retires(semi retired already) him and bam will lead our team.like everybody on here who would have thought this long haired guy could ball like this.i dont think he can get much better because hes already an all star type player.like to see him def closing and getting 30 plus minutes a night.congrats pat u picked a beauty.when this team gets healthy i think we have enough to take down any team not named denver.
jjj is already the the 4th best passer on the team. His vision is insane, I wouldn’t be surprised if spo started him at pg in the future. His bbiq is off the charts for a rookie, his shooting gets better every game, like in college he wasn’t known as 3pt shooter, but now he is a 40 percent 3pt shooter like you said. Heat has the best developmental program. I’m glad we didn’t trade him to him to that moribund blazers franchise. Scoot looks trash, even thybulle shooting better then him. Lastly jjj will be all rookie first team… not bad for a pick outside of the lottery.
He can get better, when he becomes the go to guy with 0.01 seconds left on the clock and the ball is in his hands to make that game winning shot.
A different decision here and there from referees would change the final outcome, but it is what it is. They had their closers playing, we hadnt.
When Lowry went down…. well, it wasnt good. He will miss some games sooner or later, and then will really be a problem.
The way the game started out, I was thinking it would be a blowout. I was very pleasantly surprised by the way the team hung in there right up until the very end. It is apparent Miami has the heart and determination to compete with some of the better NBA teams. However, the team is still a couple of players away from being able to compete for a title.
Hopefully, everyone gets healthy over the next couple of months and Riley is able to pull off a trade or two (or obtain a player off waivers/being bought out) that will help improve the team’s areas of weakness.
My Christmas wish list includes a healthy team, a point guard, a power forward and the continuing development of our younger players. We’ll see what Santa brings.
GO HEAT!!!
I wasn’t surprised they stood toe to toe with the Bucks, that is why I believe this team is fine and more than OK. The refs cost us the game, especially #68 and the Bucks players knew it and took advantage of it, IMHO. Play well enough beyond the margin of error that allows the refs to decide the score.
3 game losing streak. Got to stop at 3 and pile up Ws again. When can we get Ty back? Christmas? And Jimmy? Hoping all these injuries to our players is just this ’23 and no more next year.
I’m not worried, Manila. That was a healthy Bucks vs a Butler-less Heat. Several home games coming up to pad the record.
Damian as professional as he was tonight, you could tell that his body language on the bench and after the game tells it all, ” I wish I am wearing the Heat’s uniform”.
I saw that too. He looked thirsty.
Why is Giannis’ dirty elbow on the drive not a flagrant?
Why does he get 12 seconds at the line?
Good questions
‘ Cos the refs and the NBA rules committee slept during those seconds and will in future for the team they want to win.
“extra” breaks of the game
I know how proud everyone feels as we fought hard, played a great team evenly till the end. But, with the age of some of our players, this is likely to happen all season. That is why it is imperative we get more help to support the very good team we have.
Also, it works to help us in that if we have more players to help carry the load, we won’t be as dependent on just a few players. And, players won’t wear down and need as much load management. Now that the season has progressed, we know what we have more. We know that Jimmy, Bam, Kyle, Jamie, Duncan, Ty, Caleb and JRich are all good to great players that can contribute a lot.
But, the problem is, that’s just eight. When they are all there, we can play with anyone. But, so often at least one is out. The rest of our team is marginal, possibly ORob could emerge, but we don’t know that yet. But, it is a certainty that we need more.
What if Kyle was badly hurt when he went down, what would we do?
I am so pleased with this team. Considering they played against a star studded Bucks team without Butler and Herro. The refs did not help matters either. I still see no need for calls for a pg. Lowry was great for all of the 30 plus minutes he played. The officiating was not fair on Bam. Learning from the lessons of the Knicks loss will help this team go far. Go Heat, Go!