Winderman’s view: Tournament hopes end for Heat, which is not the worst outcome

Observations and other notes of interest from Tuesday night’s 131-124 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks:

– Yes, Las Vegas might have been fun in the In-Season Tournament.

– But with this the first game back after having played 9 of 10 on the road, exactly how enticing would have been an additional eight-day trip?

– That, by advancing in the In-Season Tournament could have been the case, with a road quarterfinal on Monday, a semifinal and final following in Las Vegas, and then directly off to the Dec. 11 game in Charlotte.

– Instead, after the upcoming set of home games against the Pacers on Thursday and Saturday, a guaranteed three day break before resuming their schedule Wednesday next week.

– Road weary and beaten down by injuries, the Heat could use the break.

– Even at the cost of the bonus money in the Tournament knockout round.

– Vegas will have to wait.

– With the Heat still with two West Coast trips remaining on their schedule.

– This time the Heat’s wheel of lineups stopped on Bam Adebayo, Kevin Love, Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson and Kyle Lowry.

– That was with starters Jimmy Butler (ankle), Tyler Herro (ankle) and Haywood Highsmith (back) out.

– It gave the Heat their 12th lineup in their 18 games this season.

– For as much as the NBA has stressed the In-Season Tournament, one has to wonder whether Butler and Highsmith would have been in had it been a playoff game.

– The reality is Tournament does not equal playoffs.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Caleb Martin entered together as the Heat’s first two reserves.

– Lower trajectory on successful threes: Jimmy Butler or Caleb Martin? It’s as if both crawl in.

– Jaquez again played well beyond his NBA years.

– Is he really a rookie?

– And Martin continues to look more like his former self.

– An encouraging development, indeed.

– Jamal Cain played as the Heat’s third reserve, with limited options for Erik Spoelstra.

– The lone available Heat players not to see action in the rotation were Nikola Jovic, Thomas Bryant, Cole Swider and Orlando Robinson.

– Basically, not up to such a moment.

– But Cain played his minutes well.

– And doing so against a familiar opponent, having played collegiately in Milwaukee at Marquette before transferring to Oakland University.

– The Heat are getting the Richardson they thought in free agency.

– By contrast, they haven’t gotten the Bryant they sought.

– And Lowry when the Heat are shorthanded is a different player.

– Now, if they could get this Lowry when whole . . .

– Spoelstra during his pregame comments downplayed the margin-of-victory tournament tiebreaker.

– “I told the players, focus on playing great basketball here, at home, and hopefully that leads to a win,” Spoelstra said pregame .”And if it gets to a point where we have to think about point differential, let us think about it.”

– But Spoelstra said he also grew to appreciate the Tournament.

– “I think it built up momentum,” he said. “Naturally, you don’t really know what to expect. Going into it, you want to be open minded to it. It’s good for competition.”

– Bucks coach Adrian Griffin, going in, on the Heat, “Miami is Miami. They’re always going to be Miami. You come in here, I don’t care who’s playing. Spo is one of the greatest coaches that our league has seen.”

– The Dolphins’ Jalen Ramsey and Christian Wilkins were among those in the crowd.