Getty Miami Heat wing Max Strus guards Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks.
After a promising start to their playoff run, the Miami Heat got absolutely stomped in Game 2 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
After his team cruised to a 138-122 win, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday told reporters what he’d said to teammate Giannis Antetokoumpo early on Wednesday, to convince him to not rush back from injury. He explained that he’d been able to sell the Greek Freak on the idea that the rest of Milwaukee’s squad could “hold down the fort” against the Heat.
“I told him this morning, like, ‘I know you’re gonna wanna come back, but if you don’t, just know we got you,’” Holiday said via “The Athletic.” “Our team has the ultimate confidence in each other and we know how Giannis is. We know Giannis is going to try to make that Superman effort and come back and play 48 minutes and do what he does, but, like I said, we can hold down the fort until he comes back.”
Holiday and the Bucks delivered, dominating the Heat and building their lead to as many as 36 points. The former UCLA-standout notched a double-double in the blowout, tallying 24 points and 11 assists, while knocking down 10-of-19 attempts from the field.
Erik Spoelstra Says Heat Will ‘Get Another’ Win vs. Bucks
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra made a promise of his own after the loss, saying that his team will get another win in this series.
“All things said, this feels horrible, having a game like this,” he said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “But we got one and we’re going to figure out how to get another one.”
Spo went on to address the record-setting 25 threes that the Bucks drilled on Wednesday, saying that his team needs to closeout better to make those shots tougher.
“I feel like we’ve had some of these games with them, where they’ve shot 50-plus threes,” Spoelstra said, with Milwaukee on Wednesday night closing 25 of 49 from beyond the arc. “The home game we had 21 made threes [in December 2021], we were able to beat them. We’ve also had these kinds of avalanches. They had some good, clean, easy looks at the beginning. And then once they got on a roll, they were hitting some tough, step-backs, stuff at the end of the clock. There were some that were just wide open that we didn’t have the proper awareness and closeouts and efforts to get to 3-point shooters. And then we had some good ones and they were already on a roll. And then there was our fair share of glitches on some schematics.”
Jimmy Butler Says Heat Have to ‘Take Care of Business’ at Home
Jimmy Butler‘s 25-point performance wasn’t enough to even help Miami stay close in Game 2. Of course, the game wound up being a rout and Milwaukee evened the series.
Butler told reporters he’s putting Wednesday’s matchup in the past and that his team has to “take care of business” at home.
“I would like to be up 2-0,” Butler said via House of Highlights on YouTube. “But that’s in the past now, So we’re taking it to the crib. We’ve got to take care of business on our home court.”