Three Takeaways From The Bucks OT Win To Force Game 5 With Miami

The Milwaukee Bucks entered Game 4 of their second round series with the Miami Heat needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, after the Heat won the first three games of the series, including a gutting fourth quarter of Game 3 that saw the Bucks meltdown after having a double-digit lead.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was a gametime decision for Game 4 with a right ankle injury, but was activated before tipoff and came out firing, with 19 points in the first 11 minutes before disaster struck and he aggravated the injury, spraining his right ankle and being forced out for the remainder of the game. As such, the onus fell on Khris Middleton to be the lead star on offense and the rest of the Bucks to step up around him, and that they did with a pretty incredible performance in Antetokounmpo’s absence to win it 118-115 in overtime.

Game 5 is now set for Tuesday night, with plenty of uncertainty about the Bucks’ top star, but for a team that was really lacking confidence in their ability to close, Sunday gave them some hope. Here are three takeaways from Game 4.

Khris Middleton Is Really Good

With Antetokounmpo out, Khris Middleton, who played 47 minutes (a season high), had to be the primary creator and he responded with 36 points, including 21 points in the third quarter to keep the Bucks within range of the Heat entering the fourth quarter.

While Middleton didn’t hit a shot in the fourth quarter, he came alive in overtime with some huge buckets, including the game-winner to put Milwaukee up four (and hit a pair of clutch free throws after a Miami three brought them back within one with three seconds to play).

Whether Giannis is able to play Tuesday or not, this is the kind of effort they’ll need from Middleton, who was aggressive and assertive on the offensive end, while playing excellent defense on the other. The Bucks found some success in attacking switches whenever they could to get Tyler Herro or Goran Dragic matched up with Middleton and shake free of the Jae Crowder or Jimmy Butler defense, so expect Miami to possibly adjust their coverage of the All-Star next game. Whatever the case, this was a Bucks team that had folded down the stretch a few times and to gut this win out without Giannis showed a lot from Middleton and the rest.

Miami’s Late Offense Struggled For The First Time

The fourth quarter has been where the Heat have looked the best in this series, erasing deficits or running away with wins. Jimmy Butler has been the catalyst for many of those fourth quarter runs, taking over and being the best player on the court, but in Game 4 both he and the Heat offense stagnated late. Tyler Herro hit three huge threes down the stretch to force overtime and keep Miami close in the extra period, but aside from that they really struggled to create much of anything as Milwaukee did a great job bottling up Butler and keeping Miami out of the paint.

For all the talk of Miami’s three-point shooting being their biggest advantage against this Bucks team, it’s been how well the Heat have attacked downhill, led by Butler and Dragic, that has really hurt Milwaukee. This game, the Bucks went back to protecting the paint above all, and while it yielded some runs from Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder, and Herro from deep, it kept Butler and Dragic from taking over as each had 17 points. As the Heat fell in love with the threes, particularly from Crowder as he cooled off, things turned in Milwaukee’s favor and Miami’s offense fell out of rhythm and became a lot of standing around.

It’s possible this was simply a letdown performance for Miami, as it was a closeout Game 4 going against a Milwaukee team down an MVP. Still, I would bet the focus for Erik Spoelstra in film study on Monday will be that late game offense which shut down and allowed a tired Bucks team to not just stay in the game, but escape with a win and suddenly gain some confidence.

Bam Adebayo Holds The Key

Giannis’ status is critical for Milwaukee’s chances of winning three more games in a row here, but for the Heat, even with the late-game offensive woes, they have to feel pretty good about where they’re at. Herro saw some shots go in during crunch time, Robinson finally got loose, but maybe most importantly this was a monster performance from Adebayo. He led the Heat in every category, with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists and, honestly, the biggest mistake in the fourth was probably going away from initiating the offense with him.

He played spectacular defense on Khris Middleton at times in the fourth, and the dribble-handoff game with Duncan Robinson got on track in the middle quarters. He’s been a big reason why they’ve been able to slow down Giannis, as he’s always lurking as help behind Crowder and others if he’s not serving as the primary defender, but as Miami moves forward it’s his capabilities on offense as a threat both scoring at the rim and facilitating that gives them a real chance.

The Heat are able to hurt you in so many ways on the perimeter with two elite shooters in Herro and Robinson and a pair of great drivers in Dragic and Butler. However, as we saw in the fourth quarter, a really good defense can take away those driving lanes and smother Robinson to keep him away from the ball. The Heat were at their best in this game when things ran through Bam at the high post or in pick-and-roll, and I think that’s something for them to consider more for crunchtime, particularly when teams start throwing more aggressive ball-pressure as Milwaukee did.