Damian Lillard Shows What Miami Heat Missed Out On During 2023 Offseason

Miguel Mike Medina | 3 Hours Ago

Nov 26, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) drives to the basket against Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) and guard Tyler Herro (14) during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Miami Heat’s defense had no answer in the first half, especially against Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard. 

Lillard scored 37 points on 10 of 17 shooting. He also had 12 assists, three rebounds and one block in the Bucks' 109-106 win.

With the loss, the Heat fell to 1-2 in Cup play.

The Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, leaving the scoring load on Lillard.  He had 33 points in the first half. The Heat tried to acquire Lillard last offseason but lost out to the Bucks.

“Doing whatever to try to get it out of his hands,” Rozier said of trying to slow Lillard. “Just try to trap him. I wanted to guard him in that initial step and ensure he didn’t beat me off the dribble and everybody else did what they needed to do. We just needed a couple more stops down the stretch. We didn’t get that.” 

Bam Adebayo said the Heat need to play great defense for 48 minutes. Adebayo, one of this team's elite defenders, was in foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter while the Heat were down by 20. 

“We’ve shown that we can do it for 48 minutes,” Adebayo said. “We’ve had games this season that we’ve won because of defense. So we know what we can do, and we just have to apply that to every game.” 

Miguel Mike Medina is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com

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