This was not as forecast.
It could not have been.
Not this 130-117 Miami Heat victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night at Fiserv Forum.
The teams are now one game into their best-of-seven opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series, and already seemingly everything has changed.
Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the expected leading man in the series, was lost for the night in the first half with a back contusion that leaves his status in question.
Then, before the end of the first half, the Heat likely lost starting guard Tyler Herro for the playoffs with a broken right hand, an injury expected to sidelined him from four to six weeks.
“There were a lot of moving parts throughout the course of the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra understated.
Before that attrition, the Heat, who barely survived the play-in round, needing a Friday night escape against the Chicago Bulls to survive, built an early 14-point first-quarter lead against the conference’s No. 1 seed.
And even after that, the Heat, for the first time playing as a No. 8 seed, moved to a 17-point lead.
Eventually, like seemingly every Heat game this season, it got harried and harrowing from there.
Until, with Jimmy Butler leading the way, a 1-0 series lead.
“We’ve been in moments where we’ve had uneven waters,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of the season that led the Heat to Sunday’s game. “And for us to come out and go through what we went through, I feel like it prepared us for those waters.”
Butler led the Heat with 35 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and three steals, supported by 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Adebayo, and 18 points and eight rebounds from Kevin Love.
“Right now,” Spoelstra said. “It’s by any means necessary. I’m not even looking at that because the next game could be totally in the mud and it could be an Eastern Conference game in the 90s. I think probably since we’ve had to play a lot of different styles this year due to the moving parts, that we’ve had to be defensive minded to keep games close. We’ve also had opportunities where we score a bunch of points and maybe in some way that’s helped us develop some different kinds of games that you definitely need in the playoffs.”
From a team aspect, the Heat closed 15 of 25 on 3-pointers, part of overall .595 shooting. The Bucks finished 11 of 45 from beyond the arc.
“We just took our shots when they were there,” said Heat guard Gabe Vincent, who closed 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 33 points, with teammate Bobby Portis adding 21.
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat jumped to that early 14-point lead and led 33-24 at the end of the opening period, forcing seven Bucks turnovers in the quarter, then taking a 68-55 lead into the intermission.
The Bucks then clawed within three in the third period before the Heat responded to take a 102-88 lead into the fourth, the first time in the Heat’s playoff history they had 100 points through three quarters.
Despite constant attempts at pushback from the Bucks, the Heat continued to hold to a double-digit lead until a Grayson Allen 3-pointer got the Bucks within 117-108 with 3:27 to play and a Brook Lopez 3-point play made it 119-111 with 2:55 left.
A pair of offsetting 3-pointers by Heat reserve Caleb Martin and Bucks guard Wesley Matthews kept it at an eight-point game.
And then, while tripping, a fallen Butler kicked out for a Vincent 3-point dagger and 125-114 Heat lead with 68 seconds left.
“They made a few pushes during the game and we were able to hold them off and secure one win,” Spoelstra said. “That’s it. That’s all we’re thinking about right now.”
2. Herro hurt: Herro broke his right hand diving for a loose ball late in the second quarter and immediately attempted to head to the locker room, cradling his arm.
A native of the Milwaukee area, Herro had 12 points on 8-of-16 shooting in the first half.
Duncan Robinson started the second half in place of Herro.
Herro’s injury could move Victor Oladipo back into the rotation. Oladipo, a defensive standout in last season’s Heat run to the Eastern Conference finals, had fallen out of the primary rotation since Kyle Lowry returned March 11 from a month out due to knee soreness.
“You can’t fully make up for what Tyler has been for our team all year long,” Butler said. “Tyler has been a big trigger for us all year long.”
3. Playoff Jimmy: Butler was 6 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from the line for 14 first-quarter points, the game’s only player with more than seven in the opening period.
He then reached the 20-point mark in his 16th minute, midway through the fourth quarter, more than double of any teammate at that stage, at 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting at the intermission. The rest of the Heat roster combined for 20 first-half shots.
It was the first time in Butler’s Heat career he had attempted as many shots in a first half.
It was the third time Butler had at least 20 by halftime this season and the fifth time he had done it in the playoffs as a member of the Heat.
Butler’s 11 baskets were the most by a Heat player in a playoff half since LeBron James in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals.
“I’m taking what the defense gives me,” Butler said, “being aggressive.”
4. Antetokounmpo out: Antetokounmpo’s action was limited to 11 minutes by a back contusion that had him ruled out by the middle of the second period.
Antetokounmpo took a hard tumble on a play the Heat’s Love attempted to draw a charge and Lowry was called for a foul. Just prior to that play, Antetokounmpo was called for a blocking foul while attempting to draw a charge on Adebayo.
Antetokounmpo closed with six points on 2-of-4 shooting, with three rebounds.
He missed the first two games of the teams’ four-game season series, with the Heat winning both in Miami. He also was hurt and lost for the night in one of the Heat’s two losses this season in Milwaukee.
“There was [an] X-ray that was clear here, so we’ll monitor him, see how he does — see how he wakes up,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Jevon Carter started the second half in place of Antetokounmpo, in a smaller-ball Bucks lineup.
“It changes the dynamic of their team,” Butler said of Antetokounmpo being out. “But they’re still a very good team.”
5. What’s next: The series resumes Wednesday at 9 p.m. at Fiserv Forum before shifting to Miami for games on Saturday and Monday nights.
Saturday will be the Heat’s first home playoff game since losing Game 7 of last season’s Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.
The two-day break before Game 2 should afford both teams the opportunity to reassess where they stand with their rotations, as will the two-day break going into Game 3.
“We got to just figure it out [with Herro out[ and rest and get ready for what we can expect is a very competitive Game 2,” Spoelstra said.
()
