Heat’s painful loss to Bucks serves as reminder of lingering roster problem

The up-and-down 2024-25 campaign continued for the Miami Heat on Saturday night after dropping a second consecutive tight matchup to a playoff contender. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks handed them a 121-115 overtime loss. And Miami missed the efforts of two crucial pieces.

Bam Adebayo was spectacular once again, putting the team on his back to put them in a position to win. He had a dominant first half and finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block.

It was more than just the offensive production from the big man. His two-way versatility was on full display throughout the night. He set the tone with his energy and impact, and the rest of the rotation followed his lead. 

Adebayo did all he could to help the shorthanded Heat steal the victory, but ultimately fell short down the stretch. It was clear that lineup reinforcements were needed in this one.

Bam needed help in Miami's loss to the Bucks.

Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins were both sidelined in the loss due to injuries. Herro sat this one due to a thigh contusion, which doesn’t appear to be serious. It was just his fourth out of a possible 78 games missed so far this season.

However, Wiggins has been dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out of each of the last five matchups, and the missed games are starting to pile up for the former All-Star.  

Wiggins has played just 15 games and sat out for 13 since joining the Miami Heat. 

Despite putting up impressive performances in his outings with the Heat, Wiggins’ availability issues remain a problem. 

With this team's inconsistency issues, it doesn’t help that a crucial starter like Wiggins is in and out of the lineup with nagging injuries. It hurts the cohesion and chemistry that this group is trying to build.

The irony is that the Heat wanted to move on from Jimmy Butler in part because of his lack of availability during the regular season. Now they are instantly facing the same problems with a different No. 22 on the roster. 

Luckily, Wiggins expressed optimism about returning to the Heat’s lineup relatively soon after the loss to Milwaukee. 

Wiggins' two-way abilities were needed to contain Antetokounmpo on the perimeter. It would have been much more ideal to have different defenders to throw at him, especially with Wiggins’ reputable size and length. 

The Bucks star dominated with an efficient triple-double, totaling a game-high 36 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on 13 of 21 shooting.

Miami will never see the best version of this roster with Wiggins continuously being sidelined. His talent has been missed, and it’s shown in the win column. During the Heat’s 10-game losing streak, Wiggins was out for four of those matchups. Three of those four losses were by five or fewer points.

Just as the Heat were stringing together six-straight wins and starting to get some momentum heading into the postseason, they’ve dropped back-to-back games. It only gets more difficult to carry momentum when key pieces aren’t available. 

The Heat can afford to rely on their depth to step up in an occasional absence from one of the Adebayo, Herro and Wiggins core. But not this consistently.

Securing a win with two of the three sidelined -- especially one that has almost missed as many games as he’s played -- is a much more daunting task.