As the Miami Heat still deal with trade talks involving Jimmy Butler, they also had to succumb to losing on the Milwaukee Bucks' home floor disappointingly, 125-96. The Heat lost to a Bucks team that arrived via plane on that same day hours before tip-off as they were coming from New Orleans which has been experiencing treacherous weather as Tyler Herro spoke about the lackluster defensive effort.
For a long time, Miami has been known for their toughness, especially on the defensive end, but it wasn't apparent on Thursday night when they lost a double-digit lead early on and couldn't make up ground. Herro after the game said that they “let go of the rope defensively” towards the end of the first quarter according to Barry Jackson.
“The game started going the wrong direction pretty fast,” Herro said. “They started playing a little harder defensively. We started missing a couple of shots. We let go of the rope defensively at the end of the first quarter, start of the second quarter and they started to go on a run.”
Miami has to find a way to get back to its identity and strengthen its team defense as even head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about that after saying “Our defense is 12th right now, we need to get to another level.”
The Heat have a goal defensively every game
This season, the team has held opposing teams to under 100 points 11 times as they have a perfect 11-0 record in those contests.
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“We’re trying to bring a disposition every night where we can hang our hat on holding teams under the line, which for us is 100 to 105 points,” Herro said. “That’s the line for us. We want to have an identity where we can hang our hat on the defensive end no matter how our offense is rolling.”
The Heat's All-Star hopeful in Herro, who now can only be a reserve to be picked on Jan. 30, would finish the game with 21 points to go with nine assists. Leading Miami was first-round rookie Kel'el Ware with another strong showing in the starting lineup as he scored 22 points and recorded 10 rebounds.
Subsequently, looking at the Heat's captain Bam Adebayo, he would have 11 points on five of 12 shooting from the field to go along with 14 rebounds and three assists as he points out the team's inconsistency.
“That’s the way this team is,” Adebayo said. “Really good and really bad. It’s trying to figure out how we can collectively keep playing good.”
At any rate, Miami looks to get back in the win column come Saturday when they face the Brooklyn Nets as they are now 21-22 which puts them ninth in the East. Butler is eligible to come back for the Heat on Monday when they host the Orlando Magic as it will wrap up the Heat's star two-game suspension amidst drama between him and the team.
