This was not a road trip that soured at the finish, with Saturday night’s 123-115 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks closing out a weeklong 1-3 excursion.
This was a Miami Heat trip that soured at the start, with last Sunday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets upping the ante and the Heat able to meet the remaining challenges only in the victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And after Thursday’s loss to the New York Knicks, the ante only became more severe, with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Bucks’ lineup for the first time in the teams’ three meetings.
A triple-double later from Antetokounmpo, and the Heat, with Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo sidelined, limp home despite 32 points Saturday night from Jimmy Butler, 24 from Tyler Herro and a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double from Bam Adebayo.
Antetokounmpo finished with 35 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, supported by 24 points from Khris Middleton.
Antetokounmpo entered having scored 50 or more in two of his previous three games, and three of his previous 11. It was Antetokounmpo’s career 32nd regular-season triple-double.
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat fell behind 12 early, trailed 34-26 at the end of the opening period, but rallied to a 62-62 halftime tie. The Bucks then took a 94-92 lead into the fourth.
With Butler on the bench, the Bucks then moved ahead by 10 early in the final period, before the Heat closed within 112-106 with 3:20 to play.
The Bucks then moved to an 11-point lead on a Jrue Holiday 3-pointer, the Heat unable to get closer than five from there.
2. More Butler: Butler kept the Heat afloat early by making all five of his first-quarter free throws, up to 15 points by halftime.
He then scored 12 straight Heat points early in his 17-point third period, a run that included a 3-pointer and put the Heat up 77-75. He went into the fourth with 32 points.
The heavy lifting, however, appeared to take a toll, with Butler limited after returning midway through the fourth quarter, scoreless in the period.
He finished 11 of 21 from the field and 9 of 10 from the line, with eight rebounds.
3. Filling it up: Scoreless in the first period, a period he also went without a rebound, Adebayo came around to move to eight points and five rebounds at the intermission.
He then reached a double-double by the midpoint of the third period.
Like Antetokounmpo, Adebayo also had his moments as facilitator, leading the Heat with eight assists.
4. Hometown Herro: A night after having his No. 14 retired at a suburban Milwaukee High School, Herro beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer and was up to 18 halftime points.
Herro was not shy with his attempts, at 8 of 14 from the field at the intermission.
He then cooled with only two third-period points.
He finished 10 of 24 from the field, forced to play more as playmaker with Lowry and Oladipo out.
5. Rotation revision: While the Heat backcourt required the biggest shakeup, with Lowry and Oladipo out, perhaps the biggest surprise was Dewayne Dedmon seeing his first action since his one-game Jan. 12 suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.
Dedmon, suspended after exchanging words on the bench Jan. 10 with coach Erik Spoelstra, entered as the Heat’s first reserve.
It proved to be a largely uneven return, finishing scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting, with two rebounds in 12 minutes.
With the Heat shorthanded, Haywood Highsmith appeared in his second consecutive game after not playing in the previous two.
Gabe Vincent started at point guard in place of Lowry, with Max Strus the lone Heat guard available off the bench.
