Vincent’s career night and more takeaways from shorthanded Heat win vs. Giannis-less Bucks

With Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined for the Milwaukee Bucks and more than half of the Miami Heat’s starting lineup out with injuries, the Heat’s showdown with the Bucks on Thursday — the first of two in three days in Miami — turned into an unlikely showdown with Gabe Vincent, often way out on the fringes of the Heat’s rotation, leading Miami to a 108-102 win.

Vincent, who had only scored more than a dozen points once since Thanksgiving, exploded for 28 points — a new career high — to help the Heat dig out of an early 15-point hole and take down a shorthanded championship contender in front of 19,600 at FTX Arena.

“I should’ve had 30,” Vincent said with a smile.

Forwards Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Max Strus all added double-doubles for Miami. Butler had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Adebayo had 24 and 12, and Strus had 12 and 10.

The Heat (23-20) has now won 3 of 4, 5 of 7 and 7 of 10, and is three games above .500 for the first time all year.

Here are five takeaways from the win, which wasn’t as close as the final score indicated:

1. Vincent resuscitates Miami.

After an awful first quarter and an equally troubling start to the second, the Heat found itself in a 15-point hole, down 32-17 to the Bucks (27-15) with little reason for optimism on offense.

Vincent was the one exception and the guard sparked a second-quarter turnaround.

Vincent started the second with a three-pointer — snapping his team’s 0-for-7 start from long range — in the first minute and then was in the middle of Miami’s game-tying 26-11 run later in the period.

Starting in place of point guard Kyle Lowry, Vincent went 4 of 6 for 11 points in the second quarter, going 2 of 4 on threes and helping the Heat finally push the pace after a stagnant opening period, getting up to 26 field-goal attempts from 22 in the first.

“Looking around the court, they were missing guys like we were missing guys and they only had so many — quote-unquote — lockdown defenders,” Vincent said. “I think I was just the one with the favorable matchup.”

By halftime, Vincent already matched his highest single-game scoring output since before Thanksgiving — he also had 13 points Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder — and he finished the game with 28 for his biggest scoring total of the season.

Miami needed every one of those points, too. Vincent was the Heat’s leading scorer into the fourth quarter and he regularly hit tough shots, including a stepback three in Milwaukee center Brook Lopez’s face, to keep Miami ahead through most of the third quarter before it pulled away in the fourth.

“I’ve had some shooting struggles so far this season, so anytime the ball is going in it’s obviously much more enjoyable,” Vincent said. “My guys were encouraging, like they have all season, and it was just great to be able to celebrate my success with them.”

2. Victor Oladipo closes again.

The Heat buried the Bucks by opening up the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run and Victor Oladipo started it with five in a row.

The wing began the period with a driving layup, then canned a pull-up three to get Miami’s lead up to double digits for the first time at 83-73.

Oladipo, as the sixth man, finished with 14 points and nine came in the fourth quarter, and his points came in all different manners.

For two, he drove into the paint, then unleashed a devastating spin move to get around Bucks wing Pat Connaughton for a reverse layup. For another two, he missed a three, but followed his own shot and got an easy, uncontested putback layup.

“It’s what we envisioned at the start of training camp,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s the role we slotted for him.”

Miami led by as much as 16 in the fourth quarter.

3. The Heat survives an awful first quarter.

The first quarter was emblematic of all the Miami’s problems this year. The Heat went 0 of 7 from three-point range, didn’t score a single fast break-point and wasted an early lead when it went more than six minutes without a field goal.

The Heat jumped out to a 10-6 lead with Adebayo and Butler both aggressively looking for shots. Adebayo hit a pair of pull-up jumpers — one in the paint and one at the free-throw line — with Lopez dropping way back to protect the rim on defense and Butler went right at the post player, getting into his body and hitting short shot to give Miami a solid first few minutes on offense.

Near the halfway point of the first quarter, the Heat’s offense went away, though. Miami didn’t make a single field goal from the 6:45 mark of the first until less than 30 seconds remained in the period, letting their 10-6 lead disappear into a deficit at the start of the second quarter. The Heat shot just 6 of 22 from the field in the first, committing five turnovers and handing out only two assists.

Fortunately for Miami, it was just a temporary setback. Vincent carried the Heat through the middle portion of the game, and Butler and Adebayo otherwise consistently got into the paint to score against one of the NBA’s best defenses.

“Down 15, probably earlier in the season we would’ve been playing catch-up the entire game,” Spoelstra said. “We stayed stable and then just worked the game.’

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4. Milwaukee was really shorthanded.

Even though the Heat only had nine players available, the Bucks were really the shorthanded team Thursday. Superstar post player Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out with left knee soreness, as did Milwaukee forwards Joe Ingles, Grayson Allen, Khris Middleton and Serge Ibaka for various reasons.

In all, the injuries left the Bucks without more than half of their ideal starting lineup and meant a major load for Jrue Holiday.

The Milwaukee guard led the way with 24, and the Bucks finished with only two shots at the rim and 18 points in the paint.

Spoelstra acknowledged it maybe made this game a little misleading. The two will play again Sunday in South Florida, with Antetokounmpo expected back in the lineup.

Rookie Orlando Robinson continuing to make case to be Heat backup center; Giannis out vs. Heat

5. More deep bench players step up for Miami.

Miami’s injury problems were real, too — even though there wasn’t a singular figure like Antetokounmpo missing.

Lowry missed his second straight game with a left knee injury, guard Tyler Herro missed his second straight with an Achilles injury and forward Caleb Martin missed his fourth straight with a quad injury, leaving the Heat with most of its starting lineup sidelined, too.

Vincent stepped up in Lowry’s place and shouldered the 20-point scoring load Miami is used to getting from Herro, but forwards Jamal Cain, Haywood Highsmith and Orlando Robinson were also instrumental to help Miami survive with his depth ravaged by injury — and a one-game suspension for center Dewayne Dedmon.

Highsmith stepped into Martin’s lace in the starting lineup and gave the Heat 23 minutes with a positive plus-minus, grabbing eight rebounds even as he went just 1 of 7 from the field. Robinson took Dedmon’s spot as the backup center — as he so often has in the last week — and made a handful of energy plays to help Miami survive those minutes when its star center was on the bench. Cain, who was one of the heroes of the Heat’s one-point win against the Thunder earlier in the week, also gave Miami a solid contribution with six points, four rebounds, and all of his field goals came off pure hustle, beating the defense down the floor for six of the Heat’s 10 fast-break points.