2- The 3-point defense has to be better
I know the stats say Miami 13-of-32 from three on Monday, but the eye test tells a different story.
Jimmy Butler (52.9 percent), Caleb Martin (46.7 percent), and Duncan Robinson (76.5 percent) are killing us from three. I didn’t include Gabe Vincent (47.6 percent) because you get the picture.
Milwaukee’s 3-point defense in this series has been terrible. So far in the playoffs, Milwaukee has allowed the worst 3-point percentage (47.6 percent) and field-goal percentage (54 percent), per NBA.com/stats.
This is no reason why Duncan Robinson should be shooting an astronomical 76 percent from three. It doesn’t matter that Robinson was out of Miami’s rotation this year, he’s still a deadly 3-point shooter, but Milwaukee has defended him as if he hasn’t played basketball before.
Caleb Martin has had a solid series shooting from three. He’s shot 46 percent from three in the first four games of this series after shooting 35 percent in the regular season. Martin went 2-of-3 in Monday’s game, but one of the two threes gave the Heat a 1-point lead at a crucial point in the game.
Milwaukee allowed 12 threes a game in the regular season, so it’s not anything surprising, but Miami runs simple dribble-handoffs, and Milwaukee is too slow to adjust. Couple that with Brook Lopez, who plays drop coverage, and you get a team that has averaged 15-made threes in four games.
If Milwaukee hopes to extend it to a Game 6, they have to run Miami off the 3-point line.