Heat surge from 22 down but fall short against Bucks, Lillard in 106-103 loss

MIAMI – This is why the Miami Heat put their 2023 offseason on hold.

Because they were on Dame Time.

Dame Time arrived Tuesday night at Kaseya Center.

Scoring 25 of his 37 points in the first half, Damian Lillard helped push the Milwaukee Bucks past the Heat 106-103 at Kaseya Center, on a night the Bucks were without sidelined forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Yes, a fight to the finish from 22 down in the third period. But, in the end, not enough for the Heat to keep pace with Lillard and the Bucks.

It was two summers ago, ahead of his desired departure from the rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers that Lillard targeted the Heat as his preferred destination.

It was also two summers ago when Trail Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin deemed the Heat’s assets insufficient, essentially ghosting the Heat through July and August, before dealing Lillard to the Bucks.

At the time, the Heat were seeking a volume scorer.

On Tuesday night, Lillard showed all of his possibilities, shooting 10 of 17 from the field, 8 of 13 on 3-pointers and 9 of 9 from the line, along with 12 assists.

That proved to be enough to compensate for the absence of Antetokounmpo – despite a late Heat rally from 22 down – to push the Bucks to .500 and drop the Heat below .500.

The loss also effectively eliminated the Heat from contention to advance in the NBA, now 1-2 in the league’s second-annual in-season tournament, with Friday night’s home game against the Toronto Raptors remaining in pool play.

The Heat got 23 points from Jimmy Butler, 18 from Tyler Herro, 17 from Terry Rozier and 16 from Bam Adebayo.

Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game:

1. Closing time: The Bucks led 31-20 after the first quarter, with Lillard scoring 17 in the opening period. Lillard shot 4 of 5 on 3-pointers in the first quarter, the Heat 1 of 8.

The Bucks then took a 65-51 lead into halftime, with Lillard up to his 25 points by that stage.

The Heat went down 22 early in the third period, but rallied back within 85-80 going into the fourth.

Butler then returned with 7:27 to play, with the Heat down 91-86, with five straight Rozier points drawing the Heat within 93-91 5:45 to play and a Butler basket on a goaltend tying it 96-96.

A pair of A.J. Green 3-pointers later had the Bucks up 104-100 with 2:24 to play, with Rozier responding with a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to make it 104-103.

The Heat then forced a 24-second violation, putting them in possession down one with five seconds to play.

From there there was a wayward Herro 3-point attempt and pair of Taurean Prince free throws and the Bucks held on.

2. Rozier’s return: Rozier was back in the mix after missing the previous two games with foot pain.

Unlike his previous 12 appearances, he played as a reserve, the second Heat substitute to enter, after Kevin Love.

It was just the second time Rozier has played as a Heat reserve.The other time was Rozier’s Heat debut on Jan. 24, after he was acquired from the Hornets for Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick.

He closed 7 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers.

3. Butler battles: After scoring 30 points against the Philadelphia 76ers after a nine-day break, and then 33 against the Dallas Mavericks after a five-day break, Butler this time got his work done after a two-day break, again paving his way to the foul line.

Next up is the question of how much is left in the 35-year-old tank on the second night of this back-to-back set that concludes Wednesday night on the road against the Charlotte Hornets. That will be the first of two back-to-back sets over the week, with the Heat also playing Sunday in Toronto and Monday in Boston.

Butler closed 6 of 12 from the field and 11 of 13 from the line.

4. Star stuck: For the third consecutive home game, the Heat faced an opponent lacking a leading man.

Three games ago it was the victory over the 76ers, when Philadelphia lacked Tyrese Maxey. Sunday it was the overtime win over the Mavericks, when Dallas lacked Luka Doncic.

This time it was Antetokounmpo being out for the Bucks due to a sore left knee, an injury that was not even on Milwaukee’s injury report when the Bucks arrived.

“Honestly, that’s breaking news to me, too, right now,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said in his pregame comments.

The NBA prioritizes leading players being available for national telecasts and NBA Cup games, with Tuesday night qualifying on both counts.

5. NBA Cup: With the victory the Bucks improved to 3-0 in pool play in the Heat’s group, with the Detroit Pistons 2-0, including a victory over the Heat for the tiebreaker.

With the Bucks also now with the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Heat, it has rendered Friday’s game against the Raptors moot, save for the fact that Cup games also count in the regular-season standings.

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