Not that the game was uncompetitive.
The Heat’s lack of interior size showed early and often on the defensive end, allowing a Bucks team bereft of interior scorers to hang with Miami deep into the second quarter. Defensive specialist Marquis Daniels and an in-form Ersan Ilyasova repeatedly got loose for easy buckets underneath, offsetting slow starts from Milwaukee’s mercurial backcourt, as the Bucks’ length and activity–combined with their propensity for missed jumpers–created a continual stream of offensive rebounds for Ilyasova, Sanders and John Henson.
Still, the first half struggles of Ellis and Jennings made slaying the South Florida giants all the more difficult, as Ellis’ streak of strong play since the All-Star break finally hit a serious speed-bump (3-for-11 fg, 7 pts) and Jennings only began to find his shooting rhythm after Miami had pulled comfortably ahead in the third quarter.
Time and again Jennings was left to dribble in circles while the Miami defense dutifully held its shape, with Ilyasova’s perimeter shooting (26 points, 17 rebounds) and Daniels’ surprising improvisations often the only safety valves.
J.J. Redick once again proved useful as a floor-stretching third guard (4-for-11 fg, 3-for-7 on 3s, 14 points), but the usually reliable Bucks’ bench was otherwise of little help, with Mike Dunleavy particularly subdued. While Milwaukee generally moved the ball well, Miami’s closeouts limited the Bucks’ open looks from half court sets, leaving Redick and Dunleavy with precious few open looks to show for all their running around screens.
The Bucks, of course, didn’t need Friday’s loss to underscore the importance of catching one of the teams ahead of them in the Eastern playoff pecking order, though it’s not yet clear if their recent formula can help them catch the Celtics, Hawks or Bulls.
The addition of Redick to a rotation already featuring Dunleavy and Ilyasova has done wonders for the Bucks’ spacing over the past three weeks, with both Ellis and Jennings taking advantage of additional driving lanes and substantially upping their assist totals in the process. Redick’s arrival has also put pressure on both starters to earn their playing time, as Boylan has twice benched an ineffective Jennings in favor of running Ellis, Redick and Dunleavy together late in games.
Let’s just say that never happened when Beno Udrih was in town.
The question now becomes whether the Bucks’ newfound offensive punch can be maintained over the final month of the season, and whether Boylan can figure out how to patch up the Bucks’ increasingly porous defense in the process. Getting both of those questions right might be the only way for Milwaukee to avoid a date with LeBron and company come mid-April.
And while Jennings didn’t back down from that possibility of a playoff matchup with Miami on Thursday, Boylan had a simple explanation for his point guard’s fearlessness toward the mighty Heat:
“Brandon’s young.”
Frank Madden is the founder and managing editor of BrewHoop and has covered the Milwaukee Bucks for SB Nation since 2007. You can follow him on Twitter.