Takeaways from the Heat’s Game 1 overtime loss to Bucks. What went wrong, what went right?

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 109-107 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday afternoon to open the first round of the playoffs at Fiserv Forum. Milwaukee holds a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series:

Bucks escape with overtime playoff victory over Heat in Game 1 on Middleton’s game-winner

A Heat optimist would say it’s encouraging that it was even a close game with the way both Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler struggled offensively.

The Heat’s two stars, who combined to average 40 points per game in the regular season, totaled just 26 points on 8-of-37 (21.6 percent) shooting in the loss.

Adebayo finished with nine points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 shooting from the foul line, 12 rebounds and five assists in 41 minutes. He scored nine or fewer points in just two regular-season games.

“I just missed shots,” Adebayo said.

Butler finished with 17 points on 4-of-22 shooting from the field, 2-of-9 shooting on threes and 7-of-10 shooting on free throws, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 46 minutes. It marked the first time Butler has finished with four or fewer made field goals when attempting more than 16 shots in a game since joining the Heat.

“Touch was a little bit off. I’m cool,” Butler said. “I think we all live with that. Just got to be better as a whole, honestly.”

Adebayo made just one of his five shots from inside the restricted area against the Bucks’ elite interior defense. He finished 3 of 9 on attempts from inside the paint, as Milwaukee played off Adebayo and dared him to take midrange jumpers.

Butler shot 0 of 9 on non-rim two-point attempts and took a season-high nine threes against a Bucks defense that tends to give up a lot of outside shots while prioritizing the paint.

“Their defense is very good at protecting the paint. But I think they both missed some good clean opportunities,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo and Butler. “But I think the most important thing about it is it shows their level of competitive spirit. That you still can put yourself in a position to win regardless of whether it’s an easy night for you offensively, whether the ball is dropping and it feels like it’s the size of the ocean or you have to grind and give yourself an opportunity to win in the mud. We had some opportunities in the mud. But they made some more plays and more shots down the stretch.”

The odds of Adebayo and Butler both struggling like this again are slim. And the Bucks still needed a game-winning midrange jumper from Khris Middleton with 0.5 seconds left in overtime to escape with the victory.

The more sustainable aspect of Milwaukee’s win was their 56-24 advantage in paint points. The Bucks’ defensive scheme is built to make things tough around the rim and force teams to make an efficient amount of above-the-break threes and mid-range shots to beat them.

The Heat didn’t do that.

Miami shot 6 of 15 (40 percent) on non-rim paint shots, 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) on midrange attempts and 15 of 42 (35.7 percent) on above-the-break threes in Game 1. As a result, the Heat shot just 36.4 percent from the field and 32.7 percent on two-point shot attempts.

During last year’s second-round playoff series against the Bucks, the Heat shot an efficient 49.3 percent on non-rim paint opportunities, 45.8 percent on midrange jumpers and 40.3 percent on above-the break-threes.

“I think we can play much better and we had our chances. We didn’t take them,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. “But the pressure was all on them. They need to win at home. So it was a close game. I feel like we had our chances, but unfortunately we didn’t take them. The first game is over and we’re going to adjust, and try to get the next one.”

But a Heat pessimist would say it’s discouraging that the Bucks won despite turning in their worst three-point shooting performance in nearly three years.

While Milwaukee outscored Miami by 28 points in the paint and 12-2 in transition, the Heat outscored the Bucks 60-15 from three-point range.

The Heat shot 20 of 50 from deep, setting new franchise playoff records with 20 made threes and 50 three-point attempts. Duncan Robinson totaled 24 points and tied a franchise playoff record with seven made threes.

Meanwhile, the Bucks shot just 5 of 31 (16.1 percent) on threes. It represents Milwaukee’s lowest three-point percentage in a game since making 14.3 percent of its outside shots in a Jan. 14, 2018 loss to Miami.

With the Heat hitting 15 more threes than the Bucks, it’s the largest differential in three-pointers made in a playoff loss in league history, according to ESPN Stats & Info. NBA teams now own an all-time record of 18-4 when making 20 or more threes in a playoff game.

Just like Adebayo and Butler will be expected to be better in Game 2, the odds of the Bucks shooting that poorly from three-point range again are slim.

Milwaukee finished the regular season with the NBA’s fifth-best team three-point percentage (38.9 percent).

The Bucks also won despite shooting just 20 of 32 (62.5 percent) from the free-throw line and getting an inefficient 26 points on 27 shots from two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks made 76 percent of their free throws and Antetokounmpo averaged 28.1 points on 18 shot attempts in the regular season.

Middleton scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-22 shooting on Saturday.

There were no surprises to the Heat’s rotation in the playoff opener.

The Heat used the starting lineup that worked so well over the final month of the regular season: Kendrick Nunn, Robinson, Butler, Trevor Ariza and Adebayo.

The bench rotation also looked as expected, with Dragic, Dewayne Dedmon, Tyler Herro and Andre Iguodala as the four Heat reserves used in Game 1.

Dragic finished with a team-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 shooting on threes in the loss.

“This is what it’s all about. I love these games,” Dragic said. “I know the [regular season], it’s important. But this is what we play for. I just want to be out there, help my teammates and be here for them.”

Down the stretch of the fourth quarter and in overtime, Spoelstra used a lineup of Dragic, Robinson, Butler, Ariza and Adebayo for most of those minutes. The Dragic-Robinson-Butler-Ariza-Adebayo lineup was a plus-2 in 15 minutes on Saturday.

This series is far from over, but a loss in Game 1 does not bode well for the Heat.

Miami’s run to the NBA Finals last season in the bubble included only a few losses, as it swept through its first-round series against the Indiana Pacers and posted a 12-3 record to win the Eastern Conference before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the championship series.

But the Heat began this year’s playoffs with a loss to the Bucks. Miami did not suffer its first playoff defeat last year until its eight game of the postseason, a Game 4 loss to Milwaukee in the second round.

What’s the Heat’s history when it falls in a 1-0 hole? Miami holds an 8-13 all-time record in playoff series that it has lost the first game in.

Conversely, the Heat owns a 20-5 all-time record in playoff series that it has taken a 1-0 lead in.

Game 2 just became that much more important for Miami. The Heat holds a 1-8 all-time record in playoff series that it has lost the first two games in.

The only time Miami rebounded from a 2-0 hole to win a playoff series was in the 2006 Finals, when the Heat responded with four consecutive wins over the Dallas Mavericks to win the championship series 4-2.

Game 2 of the Heat’s first-round series is Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Fiserv Forum (Bally Sports Sun, TNT).

There was a Victor Oladipo update before the game.

Oladipo’s surgeon told ESPN that he’s optimistic that Oladipo could be cleared to return to full contact basketball as early as November, confirming the Miami Herald’s report from earlier this month that Oladipo is hopeful he’ll be able to play next season by February.

Oladipo, who was acquired by the Heat via trade in March, underwent surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in his right knee on May 13. Oladipo ruptured that same tendon in his right knee in January 2019.

“I repaired the quad tendon and did it a little differently than (he had) it done before,” Dr. Jonathan Glashow said to ESPN. “The quad wasn’t really hooked up. It was torn, and I re-attached it. I was amazed he was playing with what he had. I’m very optimistic that I could clear him in six months, by November. I think he’s going to play really well again.

“(The surgery) went extremely well, and it’s healing beautifully. I’m confident he’ll play next year.”

Oladipo, 29, will be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.