Heat-Bucks playoff rematch: The talk surrounding the matchup and what both sides agree on
Ask players and coaches from the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks what last postseason’s matchup has to do with this year’s playoff series between the teams, and you will likely get a similar answer from most involved.
“It’s a completely new year,” Heat guard Kendrick Nunn said. “We’ve had our ups and downs this year, they’ve had theirs. Rosters have changed a little bit. Two completely different years. So whatever happened last year in the bubble in that series is completely irrelevant to this series.”
Heat forward Duncan Robinson added: “Thinking something is going to happen in this series because of what happened last year, truthfully it doesn’t even matter. This is a new year, a new opportunity.”
Then there’s Bucks two-time All-Star Khris Middleton, who said: “We’re a totally new team. We got a couple main guys left from last year, but it’s a whole new team. They have no idea what happened last year except for what they saw on TV.”
Bucks guard Jrue Holiday wasn’t part of last year’s series since he spent last season with the New Orleans Pelicans, but he also offered his take on the topic: “The bubble was weird and it was a weird situation, and we also have a different team this year and they have a different team this year. I think for us, it’s really just about focusing on ourselves.”
It’s almost like the teams came to an agreement beforehand on the answer to that question. But last season’s playoff matchup, when the then-fifth-seeded Heat eliminated the then-top-seeded Bucks in a 4-1 second-round upset on its way to the NBA Finals in the Walt Disney World bubble, is a major story line surrounding this year’s series regardless of how much both sides try to minimize it.
Game 1 of this season’s first-round playoff series between the sixth-seeded Heat and third-seeded Bucks is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. The contest will be televised on ESPN and Bally Sports Sun.
Bucks superstar and two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted there is “for sure” added motivation against the Heat in this year’s playoff matchup after what happened last season.
“They beat us last year 4-1,” Antetokounmpo said. “... We want to be the team that advances to the next round. I think guys are in a good place mentally and hopefully we can go out there and get Game 1.”
The Heat knows, even if some don’t admit it, that last postseason’s result is fresh on the minds of most Bucks players and coaches.
“It’s going to be a battle. That’s pretty much how I see it,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “They’re definitely thinking about last year and they want their get-back. It’s not a surprise. It’s not like a secret.”
The Bucks might be the team entering with the proverbial chip on its shoulder, but Miami enters its playoff series against Milwaukee as the clear underdog for the second straight season. The Heat faces relatively long 5-to-2 odds to advance past the Bucks into the second round, and Milwaukee is a 4.5-point favorite in Game 1.
This is a familiar role for the Heat, which also was the underdog last postseason in the second round against the Bucks and in the conference finals against the Boston Celtics. Miami prevailed in both before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
“I don’t listen to it,” Adebayo said of those again doubting the Heat. “Block out the noise, man. At the end of the day, we’re here to play basketball. We gotta block out the noise and do our jobs.”
Milwaukee (46-26) finished with a better regular-season record than Miami (40-32) to earn home-court advantage and also won the regular-season series over the Heat 2-1, although Jimmy Butler did not play in any of those games because of injuries.
The Bucks also return their two top players in Antetokounmpo and Middleton, and added a third star in Holiday via trade last offseason. Holiday is one of the NBA’s top two-way guards, and the Bucks have outscored opponents by 264 points this season when Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Holiday have been on the court together.
Milwaukee acquired forward Bobby Portis and guard Bryn Forbes in free agency last offseason to strengthen its bench rotation, and traded for veteran three-and-D specialist P.J. Tucker in March. The Bucks also added new wrinkles to their schemes on both ends of the court — mixing in more switching into its defense and using Antetokounmpo in different spots on the court to make it harder for opposing defenses to load up against him — to become a more playoff-ready team.
“This is the best time of year for competitors,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You want to be challenged by the best teams and see where you can come out on the other side of it and you don’t want to ever take it for granted.”
Meanwhile, the Heat brings back most of the rotation it used to defeat the Bucks last postseason. Adebayo and Butler are still Miami’s best two players, and Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Robinson, Andre Iguodala and Nunn are again expected to have consistent roles in this year’s series.
The Heat’s newcomers who are expected to be part of the rotation to open the playoffs are Trevor Ariza and Dewayne Dedmon. Nemanja Bjelica is also an option Spoelstra can turn to.
After a 7-14 start to the season that was filled with players missing time because of injuries and/or COVID-19 health and safety protocols, the Heat climbed all the way back to end the season eight games above .500. Miami won 12 of its final 16 regular-season games.
“I truly believe we have a different group of guys in this locker room that have been battle tested through a lot,” Nunn said. “Been through a lot of ups and downs, and stayed even and pretty much consistent through it all and can fight through adversity.”
The results from this year’s Heat-Bucks series will show how much has truly changed since last season.
“We’re ready for anything,” Butler said. “You leave the past in the past — all the wins, all the losses, all the mishaps, all the great fortunes. It’s a different time of the year right now. You’re supposed to be playing your best basketball. The first to 16 wins. So we have to start with the first four.”
▪ The Heat enters the playoffs with a relatively healthy roster. Besides guard Victor Oladipo (season-ending knee surgery), there are no other Heat injuries.
