The Miami Heat should have known better.
Because sometimes it is about more than the just the leading man.
Just as it had been for the Heat in a 7-0 start to this postseason that came to a careening halt with a 118-115 overtime loss Sunday to the Milwaukee Bucks at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex.
Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo lost to the Bucks for the balance of the game _ and perhaps balance of this best-of-seven series _ early in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle, Milwaukee had enough to close within 3-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.
"We just thought they were going to hand us the game, I guess," Heat forward Jae Crowder said. "We didn't have the mentality to just take the win.
"We didn't play with the same togetherness that we did in the previous games."
With Khris Middleton picking up the scoring slack with 36 points, after Antetokounmpo scored 19 in his 11 minutes, the Bucks lived for another day, with Game 5 at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The loss snapped the Heat's postseason winning streak one shy of the franchise record.
"We didn't play as hard as we should have," Heat center Bam Adebayo said. "We didn't play with our maximum effort."
A Tyler Herro 3-pointer with 30.1 seconds left got the Heat within 113-112, but Middleton then pushed the Bucks ahead 116-112 with a 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds to play. Herro, though, came back with a 3-pointer to get the Heat within 116-115. Middleton then put it away with a pair of free throws, to close the scoring.
"We feel like we played up 3-0, not giving enough effort, not sacrificing out body," Adebayo said. "At the end of the day, we should have played like we were in Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3."
It nonetheless again was an across-the-board effort for the Heat, featuring a 26-point, 12-rebound double-double from Adebayo, as well as 20 points from Duncan Robinson, 18 from Crowder, 17 from Goran Dragic and 17 from Jimmy Butler.
But it also not enough.
"We didn't finish the game like we usually do," Adebayo said.
For the Bucks, there also were 19 points from Brook Lopez, as well as 14 points and 10 rebounds from Eric Bledsoe.
Five degrees of Heat from Sunday's game:
1. Shaky fourth: The Bucks went ahead with 4:25 to play in regulation on a Lopez 3-pointer, completing a 12-0 rally.
Baskets by Butler and Adebayo then left it tied 104-104 with 2:25 to play in the fourth, with a 3-pointer by Herro with 58.6 seconds left in regulation putting the Heat up 107-106.
Eventually, with 1.9 seconds to play in regulation, the Heat fouled Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo, who made only the second of two free throws, to leave it tied 107-107.
Regulation ended with that score, when a Dragic 3-point attempt at the regulation buzzer wound up wedged between the rim and backboard.
2. Giannis' ankle: There was a stunned silence (even by neutral-court, spectator-free Disney) with 10:18 to play in the second period, when Antetokounmpo again went down with a sprained right ankle.
Fouled by Andre Iguodala on the play, Antetokounmpo stayed in to shoot his two foul shots, making only the second of the two, with the attempts required in order to be eligible to remain in the game.
The free throw gave him 19 of the Bucks' first 30 points, with the Bucks then fouling, to allow him to leave the court.
His free throw drew the Bucks within 31-30, with Milwaukee yet to lead to that stage.
The Bucks entered with Antetokounmpo questionable due to a sprain to the ankle sustained early in Friday's Game 3.
DiVincenzo started the second half in place of Antetokounmpo, who closed 8 of 10 from the field, with four rebounds.
3. Adebayo's opportunity: With the length of Antetokounmpo removed from the mix, Adebayo offered a mix of feathery mid-range jumpers and strong play at the rim, opening 8 of 10 from the field.
With the Bucks going small to start the second half, Adebayo scored 12 points in the third quarter, which ended with the Heat up 88-86, adding five rebounds in the period, which ended with the Heat up 88-85.
Adebayo then secured his double-double in the early minutes of the fourth quarter.
4. Crowder launches: Crowder reached 100 career 3-pointers with his second conversion of the game and kept going from there.
At one point, he stood 5 of 8 on 3-pointers when the Bucks, as a team, stood 5 of 21.
Of Crowder being a 3-point threat in this series after struggling from beyond the arc in playoff series elsewhere, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, "He's evolved. Everybody's different. He's really worked at that part of the game."
5. Olynyk back: Backup center Kelly Olynyk was back after missing Game 3 with a knee bruise.
He played as the Heat's third reserve, with Spoelstra going 10 deep by the end of the first quarter.
With Olynyk back, and with the Bucks smaller in Antetokounmpo's absence, center Meyers Leonard, who made his playoff debut in Game 3, again was out of the rotation.
