Giannis Antetokounmpo claimed winning back-to-back NBA MVPs is "not important at all" to him after seeing the Milwaukee Bucks suffer just their ninth loss of the season.

Antetokounmpo was kept in check by the Heat on Monday, scoring a season-low 13 points as center Bam Adebayo frustrated the reigning MVP with a fine defensive performance.

Despite the loss, Milwaukee still lead the Eastern Conference standings with an NBA-best 52-9 record and Antetokounmpo is the frontrunner to be named MVP again.

Yet such accolades were far from his thoughts after a rare loss.

"It's not important at all. I really don't [care]," he told reporters when asked about being named MVP once more.

The Heat improved to 39-22 with the 105-89 victory and may have provided the blueprint for how to stop Antetokounmpo.

It is a game plan they might need to revisit in the playoffs and Antetokounmpo know the Bucks will likely need to find a way to break Miami down if they are to reach the NBA Finals.

"We haven't lost a lot this year," he said.

"Teams are looking at me and obviously I've got to keep my confidence high

"You're gonna win some games, you're gonna lose some games. We're not going to go 82-0.

"Miami's a great team, came out [and] played really, really hard tonight. We're definitely going to play them again at some point and we've just got to play better, play hard.

"They're going to play hard for 48 minutes, it doesn't matter whether they make shots or miss shots.

"They made 17 threes. If we see them in the playoffs, which is a month and a half away, we've got to be ready."