The Miami Heat had a chance to shut the door on Milwaukee Sunday, but they couldn’t. Have no fear though, as there are reasons for optimism in Game Five.
The Miami Heat should have finished off the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon. You can tell by listening to their post-game press conferences.
If you were watching the game though, you didn’t even have to hear them say it to know it. Their performance was sub-par and not in accordance with the way that they have played the rest of this series and the playoff games before it in the first round against the Indiana Pacers.
Even in the Pacers series when they weren’t sharp, they played extremely hard and with maximum effort, while there were times on Sunday where it seemed as if they weren’t trying as hard. That didn’t always manifest itself in a physical reaction though, as sometimes it simply seemed as though their mental focus and acuity were off.
In example and in the waning moments of the game, Brook Lopez put up a bailout shot at the end of the shot clock that was clearly going to be off, but he was fouled by Bam Adebayo. That is a play we can’t have there and especially considering that it allowed him to shoot the free throws that tied the ball game up with just minutes to go.
It was due to plays like that one all afternoon that allowed them to hang around after Giannis Antetokounmpo left the game with an injury and ultimately, win the game. Don’t fret though, as although we would have loved to sweep them, there are reasons for optimism in Game Five.
Here they are.