After a tight Game 1, the next game between the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks wasn’t close at all. Milwaukee came out firing from beyond the arc and pulled away early. Thanks to a historic three-point attack, the Bucks coasted past the Heat in Game 2. Miami tried to come back but the Bucks always responded with another run of their own. With the loss, Miami now trails in the series 0-2.
Here are my takeaways from Monday’s loss to the Bucks.
Historic Three-Point Shooting
In Game 1, the Bucks shot an uncharacteristically poor 5-of-31 from beyond the arc. But it took less than eight minutes for them to make their fifth three-pointer in the first quarter. Bucks guard Bryn Forbes led the early charge shooting 4-of-4 from downtown. Milwaukee shot a blistering 10-of-15 from downtown in the first period, outscoring Miami 46-20. At times, it looked like an NBA 2K game with one team having its three-point game sliders up. And the Bucks never looked back.
Milwaukee finished 22-of-53 from beyond the arc to set a new record for the most made three-pointers in a playoff game in franchise history.
Butler and Bam Struggles Continue
In Game 1, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler combined to score 26 points on 8-of-37(21.6 percent) shooting. Adebayo and Butler’s Game 1 struggles continued in Game 2. They both combined for 26 points on 9-of-21(42.3 percent) shooting. That’s far below their combined regular-season average(nearly 40 points per game). The Bucks continued to sag off of Adebayo and dared him to shoot the midrange jumper. Giannis Antetokounmpo remained the primary defender for Butler and he’s done a great job of slowing him down.
Miami has to find a way to get both stars going for them to have any shot of winning this series. It may involve them making a change at the point guard position. Miami may choose to start Goran Dragic instead of Kendrick Nunn, who’s not a floor general.
Rebounding
Another issue for Miami was rebounding. Miami was outrebounded 61-36 in Game 2. Some of that came off of Miami’s missed shots which gave the Bucks more rebounding opportunities. The disappointing part about it was the 21 offensive rebounds that the Bucks finished with. Milwaukee took advantage of those opportunities by scoring 23 second-chance points. Miami’s got to be more physical in the paint and grab those rebounds.
If Miami wants to extend this series, they got to limit those second-chance opportunities. You cannot give a good offensive team like Milwaukee second chances.
Next up: Game 3 is on Thursday. The game tips off at 7:30 pm eastern time on TNT.
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