After a really tough OT loss in Game 1 and a Game 2 barrage of 3’s from the Bucks that lead to a 34 point loss for Miami, many around the NBA feel like the Heat can already be counted out.

As a Heat fan myself, I usually back up the team no matter what. We all know how special this team was during their NBA Finals run last season, but this year they look totally lost. Jimmy Butler has struggled with 25% shooting from the field and 13.5 PPG in the first two games and Bam Adebayo has been only slightly better with 34% shooting and 12.5 PPG. With abysmal performances from the centerpieces of your offense, it’s really hard to believe in this 2021 playoff squad. Especially when role players like Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic, Trevor Ariza, and so on aren’t really picking up any slack.

I’m not shaking in my boots about the extraordinary shooting by Milwaukee in Game 2. Great teams are bound to have outings like that, and even with a defensively strong team like Miami– there’s nothing you can do to stop it. What worries me is the offensive woes of the Heat. This team is very one dimensional and the Bucks exploited that in Game 2. As mentioned, the stars and role players have struggled to get into rhythm. In fact, the only one to show any signs of life has been Dewayne Dedmon, whose only been part of the team for a short while. Expect him to have a more significant role tonight in the Game 3 matchup after Dedmon showed great effort crashing the boards and getting second chance buckets. However, outside Dedmon, the team showed no interest in rebounding or playing tight defense after the second half. They seemed unconfident and as if they gave up super early. A team splashing 3’s like that is obviously demoralizing, but championship caliber teams never cave in.

Game 3’s performance will be indicative of whether or not Miami is actually done already in this series, even after making the Finals last season. Obviously, going down 3-0 is not ideal, however if they are able to find themselves offensively and be super competitive like in Game 1 or even find a way to snag a win tonight, then I’ll have faith in them to potentially take this series the distance. It’s going to take a lot, but HC Eric Spoelstra is one of the best in the business and is one of the few guys in the NBA I’d trust to coach their way back into an uneven feeling series. If we get anything less than a win or an ultra competitive 48 minutes….

Then this series is a wrap.

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