NBA Playoffs 2013, Heat vs. Bucks: Miami cruises in four-game sweep

“The biggest focus will be on keeping ourselves physically ready,” Spoelstra said following Sunday’s victory. “You’re used to playing every 48 hours or so (in the playoffs).”

And no player is of bigger concern than Wade, who has dealt with this same knee injury for the last several weeks. It kept him out of seven of the Heat’s last 10 regular season games entering the playoffs, and also contributed to a disappointing 1 for 12 shooting performance from Wade in a Game 3 victory over Milwaukee last Thursday.

“We’ve got a lot of decisions to make,” Boylan said in his postgame press conference. “To look at anything now seems a bit too soon.”

Milwaukee’s offseason decisions start with Jennings, who has spent all four of his NBA seasons with the Bucks. Jennings turned down a four-year, $40 million contract in the offseason according to Yahoo Sports, and has already stated that even a one-year qualifying at $4.5 million wouldn’t keep him in Milwaukee beyond the 2013-2014 season.

• Russell Westbrook’s injury turns playoffs upside down

• Boston’s beaten down and beat up

Wade has been battling soreness from bone bruises in his knee. The problems kept Wade out of the final six games of the regular season, but he had played in all three of Miami’s wins against the Bucks. In the series, he’s averaging 18 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. Wade has been receiving treatment on the knee, and it appeared that he could play in a more desperate situation.

Though Wade recorded a double-double in Game 3 on Thursday, he shot just 1-for-12 from the floor and had six turnovers as Miami cruised to a 104-91 win.

So what will be the difference in Milwaukee living to fight another day and the Heat getting ample time to rest for the second round?

Redick is apparently not on speaking terms with Boylan, and he’s playing only 13.7 minutes per game over the three games of the first round series. He played only seven minutes in the second half of Game 3 despite scoring 11 points in 10 minutes during the first half. Meanwhile, Dunleavy is playing just over 21 minutes per game, and Ilyasova, a starter, is at 30 minutes per game in the series.

Hammond acquired the 28-year-old guard with a playoff push in mind, and the Bucks did make it to the postseason as the No. 8 seed in the East. but after the Game 3 loss on Thursday, Redick said he isn’t on speaking terms with head coach Jim Boylan. That’s bad news for a team that has reportedly primed a five-year, $40 million offer for Redick this offseason.

Boylan played Redick just 24 minutes over the first two games of the team’s series against the Heat, and he chose to bench the veteran in the second half of the Game 2 loss. After that game, Boylan was asked about the minute shortage for his most experienced guard and said, “We’ve got to find a way to get him scoring for us.”

The 10-year veteran guard has set the bar pretty high for himself in the postseason. He has averaged 24.9 points on 47.6 percent shooting and 8.5 free throw attempts per game over 113 career playoff contests. He’s been efficient (55.9% TS, 49.4% eFG), effective (24.0 PER) and fairly judicious (14.4% turnover rate) over the course of his postseason career, but things have dropped off significantly through three games in 2013.

In fairness, Wade has found other ways to contribute. He dished out 11 assists and swiped five steals in Game 3 to offset his 1-12 shooting night. In 101 minutes, the Heat have still outscored the Bucks by 14.9 points per 100 possession, according to NBA.com/stats. Miami has steamrolled Milwaukee in all three games, so when Wade scored four points in 36 minutes on Thursday it’s possible he was just coasting.

Sacrifices were made. A bench unit deepened even more in the third year of the ‘big three’ era didn’t show signs of jealousy or frustration as Spoelstra tinkered with lineups, always going with the hot hand as the regular season progressed. Spoelstra said he didn’t know many players with Allen’s skillset and resume who would be willing to play just 20 minutes a night here and another 25 there.

“Every night you have to plug in the holes. ”

Milwaukee’s deadly backcourt of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis combined to shoot 7-for-24 while hitting on just 2-of-13 three-point opportunities on Thursday. Jennings led the team with 16 points and eight dimes, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“I’m seeing a lot of traps,” Jennings said. “The (Miami) big men are actually doing a great job of containing me and staying with me.”

As they did in Game 2, the Bucks trailed 70-68 with 2:40 left in the third quarter, but the Heat finished on an 8-0 run to go ahead, 78-68, heading to the final frame. The run turned into a 15-1 spurt bridging the third and fourth, and the Heat led by as many as 17 down the stretch to cruise to victory.

But it was Allen’s night. He hit three shots from beyond the arc and scored 15 first-half points off the bench. James splashed a step-back jumper from the right wing to bring Miami within two as Milwaukee took a 50-48 lead at halftime. The final hoop of the half was James’ first points in the second quarter after he scored 11 points in the opening stanza.

Redick hit his first two buckets, both three-pointers, upon entering. That gave Boylan good reason to keep him in the game, and the reserve guard played 10 minutes in the first half to score 11 points. Milwaukee as a whole went 6-for-12 from beyond the three-point line to start the game. The Bucks led by as many as nine in the early parts of the second quarter, but a red-hot Ray Allen and James’ usual play kept Miami close.

No, although it wasn’t really the Bucks forward’s fault that James scored 11 points in the first quarter and had 13 at the half after making a buzzer-beater before heading to the locker room. As usual, James freight-trained his way to the hoop off long rebounds following Milwaukee jump-shots. He also played within the offense to earn four assists.

Through two playoff games, NBA trade deadline acquisition J.J. Redick has played a total of 24 minutes and scored eight points for the Bucks. Jim Boylan played the veteran shooting guard less than eight minutes in Game 2 and sat him for the entire second half. After the game, Boylan failed to shed any light on the situation, saying only: “We’re trying to get him open, get him free. Get him in a rhythm. We’ve got to find a way to get him scoring for us.”

Redick may not be enough to make a big difference for Milwaukee, but he is a consummate professional who deserves a bigger role in this series. His minute-load will be something to watch on Thursday night.

And now Boylan isn’t even playing Redick, a player acquired specifically to produce this season since, you know, there’s a strong possibility he won’t be back next season.

After playing decent minutes for the Bucks in the regular season -- more than 28 per game off the bench -- Redick is a no-show through two games against the Heat. Like, literally a no-show: Boylan played him less than eight minutes on Tuesday. He’s only the team’s best shooter, you know.

“We’re trying to get him open, get him free. Get him in a rhythm,” Boylan said. “We’ve got to find a way to get him scoring for us.”

While the Bucks’ back court seemed to do just fine without big production from Redick in Game 1, his absence was sorely missed in Game 2 as Ellis and Jennings combined for just 15 points on 5-for-22 shooting. The good news for the Bucks is they return to the Bradley Center for Game 3, where Redick shot much better than he did on the road over the last two months of the season.

“They come in with great energy obviously, quickness, and above everything else a sense of urgency,” Spoelstra said. “And it sparks us.”

Andersen was perhaps the biggest spark off the bench, chipping in 10 points and eight rebounds, while Shane Battier also added 10 points.

It took 36 minutes to shake them loose, but the Miami Heat were once again able to run away from the Milwaukee Bucks to take a commanding 2-0 series lead as the two teams head to Milwaukee, winning 98-86 Tuesday night.

Whether it was turnovers or great Milwaukee ball movement for open shots, the Heat continued to struggle to pull away in the third quarter. Several times in the second half they looked poised to run away with the game only to surrender a quick 4-0 or 6-0 run and were only up three heading in to the fourth quarter.

However, it still didn’t come close to rivaling the squeal overheard from a fan near the microphone supplying the broadcast’s audio.

Wait, what if that’s just how his yells sound? They look really deep but they really just sound like a squeaking fan?

Before the game, Satchel Price broke down three points that would need to swing the Bucks way for them to pull off the upset.

To be determined. The good news is the Bucks weathered an awful first from both (one point combined), thanks to Ilyasova’s 14 point explosion. When he was on the floor, Sanders also did a good job contributing, scoring eight points in 13 minutes.

To begin, let’s check out the streets of Miami.

Ric Flair would be so proud. WOO!

When the Heat win this series -- it’s not really a question of “if” at this point -- the reason for why will be fairly simple: talent. Miami has three players significantly better than anything Milwaukee can throw out at any given moment.

With that said, a single contest isn’t quite the same as a seven-game series. Over the course of the series, talent will surely win out and the Heat will ease their to victory. But over a single 48-minute span, funky things can happen, and that gives Milwaukee hope of winning at least one game, even if a series upset seems out of the question.

Erik Spoelstra said James’ game was a “very mature, high I.Q. game” and that it was “about as efficient as you can get.” Spoelstra credited James for orchestrating the offense, but also delved into the importance of Chris Bosh being able to stretch out and hit the corner three. Regarding the corner three from Bosh, Spoelstra was emphatic, saying “that one specific shot is critical for us.”

Aside from trying to slow down James, Boylan identified the need to get more out of their role players and not rely as heavily on both Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis.

James took only two 3-point field goal attempts, using his trips to the charity stripe to serve as an efficient boost to his scoring total. James was 8-for-11 from the free throw line.

It wasn’t just his scoring though, it was James having a team-high 10 rebounds to go with it as he outworked his opponents and teammates alike. It was his eight assists, the zippy passes he carved the Bucks’ defense with, and the court-vision he displayed for the basketball world. It was the field goals he didn’t take more so than the field goals he did make.

The Heat’s playoff run started with an exclamation point, with James gobbling up an offensive rebound on the first possessions and dishing it out to Chris Bush for an emphatic dunk for the Heat’s first points of the postseason. The following play for the Heat, a steal form Wade that turned into an and-1 layup for James, could have been the dot at the bottom of that punctuation mark. Or, tidying all of the dominant start that was a 10-2 run for Miami capped off by a 3-point field goal from Bosh could do the trick.

In short, the Heat were ready to not only defend their title from the keep, but set out on the path to their castle and lay waste to their opponents. By the time the Bucks called their first timeout, they were in a 19-8 hole with six minutes remaining in the first quarter.

This is a team capable of winning 27 games in a row, and then upon seeing that streak end, reeling off another 10 wins in 11 games with most of their star players sidelined. That’s 37 wins in 39 games, and that is not particularly fair.

We aren’t crowning this team because we love narrative, we’re doing it because we are reasonable human beings and fans of honesty. To imply this team was anything but the top team in the NBA in the regular season would be blatantly false.

And getting local in Wisconsin or in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, nobody is really biting on the soured bait of the Bucks having a realistic chance to pull off the upsets of all upsets. Three of five Sun Sentinel writers are calling it a sweep while two believe Milwaukee will do just enough to make it a five-game series win for Miami.

And at Bucks blog, Brew Hoop,Steve von Horn has a hard time finding the Heat’s weakness.