5 Reasons that led to the Miami Heat being swept in round 1 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs
The Miami Heat became the first team to be swept twice in the first round of the playoffs a year after making the NBA Finals. Only two teams, including them, have had to face this unwanted record, with the other team being the Dallas Mavericks in 2012.
The fact that the Heat lost to the team they beat in last year's playoffs was a clear sign that they did not make the best decisions in shaping their squad this season. It was evident that their opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, had a much better roster. The Bucks completely outperformed Eric Spoelstra's men in this first-round series matchup.
On that note, we list down five observations that played a huge role in the Miami Heat being swept in the 2021 NBA playoffs below. These reasons include both on and off-the-court struggles of the team.
5) Rebounding
One of the Miami Heat's biggest struggles on the court was their lack of physicality against the Milwaukee Bucks in the paint. The Heat were able to make just 66.4% defensive rebounds and just 43% rebounds overall. It's the worst among all 16 teams playing in the 2021 NBA playoffs so far.
This also led to the Miami Heat allowing the Bucks to score 18.8 second-chance points per game, also the worst among teams in the playoffs. Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 15 rebounds per game in the series, which is another testament to how inefficient the Heat were throughout the series.
4) Lack of production from role players
The Miami Heat trio of Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro were miserable in this series. Even though Dragic led the Heat in scoring at 16 points per game, he wasn't as effective when the team was struggling. Last season, Dragic scored 20 points per game against the same opposition in the playoffs.
Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro were two of the most disappointing players for the Miami Heat. They were the team's best bets to keep up with the Milwaukee Bucks' three-point shooting. But, Robinson averaged just 37%, while Herro managed to convert just 31.6% from deep. Their shooting from inside the arc was poor too, as they managed to convert just 38% and 31% of their attempts, respectively.
3) Letting go off Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk
The Miami Heat clearly lacked size this time around and were also struggling with a lack of scorers on the team. They sorely missed players like Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk, who could have proved to be effective on those fronts.
Crowder hasn't had the best of playoff campaigns this season in terms of his offensive output, but his defense definitely would have helped the Heat contain the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis.
Last season, Crowder scored 15 points per game against the Bucks in the playoffs, shooting 60% from the field. His presence would have lifted a tremendous amount of pressure off Butler and Adebayo.
Meanwhile, Kelly Olynyk had one of his career-best stints since leaving the Miami Heat at the trade deadline. He averaged 19 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, shooting a career-best 55% from the field in the 27 games he played for the Rockets.
He is also a decent three-point shooter and could have been highly effective in this series by spacing the floor out and being a solid defensive presence in the paint because of his size. These were also two areas the Miami Heat were unable to cope with against the Bucks.
2) Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo's poor form
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo had a postseason to forget. After carrying the Miami Heat for most of the season, the two stars did not show up when it mattered the most. The Bucks found a way to neutralize them early on in the series and the duo could not figure out a solution throughout the four games.
Butler was a major disappointment on the offensive end. He shot just 29.7% from the field all series and struggled to cope with Jrue Holiday and Giannis as his primary defenders. Being the best player on the Heat roster, many expected him to face this challenge and overcome it, but it did not work out for him at all.
He finished the series with just 14.5 points per contest, which was lower than the Bucks' leading bench player Bryn Forbes, who averaged 15 points per game. Butler had the worst +/- among all players from both teams at -21.5.
Meanwhile, Adebayo lost the battle in the paint against Giannis Antetokounmpo. He averaged a mere 5.8 defensive rebounds per game and was unable to create an impact on the offensive end either, averaging 15 points per game, shooting 45.6% from the field, which isn't quite impressive for a big man.
1) Unwillingness to go big on signing James Harden
The Miami Heat were one of the teams that could have been a part of a blockbuster trade that would have seen James Harden join them. However, the Rockets were demanding one of the Heat's young stars, Tyler Herro, in return. The Heat weren't willing to include Herro in the trade, which opened a clear path for Harden to join forces with another Eastern Conference rival, the Brooklyn Nets.
Not only would the Miami Heat have avoided a sweep, but they could also have been one of the favorites to reach the finals again if that deal had gone through and probably even avoided facing the Bucks in the first round by finishing as a higher seed. Considering how poor Herro has been in this series, it doesn't seem like one of the best decisions made by Miami at the moment.