The Miami Heat fired the opening salvo as they got the best of the Milwaukee Bucks yet again – now the third time in four meetings this season. You’d be crazy to think the series is over, though.
Catch Game 2 on Thursday, September 2 at 6:30 AM (Manila time).
HOME TEAM: #1 Milwaukee Bucks (0-1)
The Bucks have lost another series opener as favorites. It has now happened in three of their last four playoff series, which dates back to last year.
The 115-104 loss in Game 1 saw the Bucks go minus 10 from their playoff average (114.2 PPG) and minus 14 in their regular season average (118.7 PPG).
It also featured another rough outing by Giannis Antetokounmpo against the Heat defense. He was held to just three points in the fourth quarter (1/3 FGs, 1/4 FTs), and got forced into committing three turnovers. Though he was one assist shy of a triple double (18 pts, 10 rebs, 9 ast), it’s his second time failing to reach 20 points while playing over 30 minutes versus Miami.
Giannis also channelled the wrong Shaquille O’Neal attribute as he shot an appalling 4-for-12 from the charity stripe.
Milwaukee mostly rode the shooting of Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, who combined for eight three-pointers and had 28 and 24 points, respectively. That, however, meant that the inside presence was unimposing, which was evident. They only had 24 points in the paint despite averaging 49.3 in the regular season and 43.5 in the five playoff games prior.
ROAD TEAM: #5 Miami Heat (1-0)
Tuesday’s win maintained the Heat’s spotless record in the 2020 playoffs. They are now 5-0 including the four-game sweep in the first-round.
The win had “Jimmy Butler” written all over it as he simply took over in the fourth quarter. He scored 13 of Miami’s last 16 points en route to a career playoff-high 40 – he even assisted on that other three points.
It’s always good to draw first blood, but the Heat should be aiming to relax and stay the course. Hopefully, they didn’t forget all the sizable leads they’ve blown all season, one of which was a 23-point, second-half lead just weeks ago… against this Bucks team.
Butler will remain as the man to watch for due to his increasing momentum, but keep in mind that this Heat squad are among the most balanced this season. Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson, and Tyler Herro – to name a few – have had big games in this year’s playoffs as well.
PREDICTIONS:
The Heat will continue playing with confidence, and they’ll boast that balanced attack yet again. However, the Bucks didn’t finish the regular season with the best record, most prolific offense, and highest defensive rating in the league for nothing, so we should expect a better performance from them tomorrow, especially Giannis.
I see the Bucks tying the series with a 118-110 win.
