Miami Heat: An early look at Milwaukee, and why series unsettles me

The Miami Heat will be taking on the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, and it’s bound to be an absolute shootout from start to finish.

It’s settled, the Miami Heat will be taking on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, starting with Game 1 on Monday. It’s a battle between two of the top-ten teams in the entire league and will be nothing short of a gunfight.

Jimmy Butler and the Heat are coming off a series sweep of the Indiana Pacers, while it took Antetokounmpo and the Bucks five games to put down the Orlando Magic. It’ll be a more rested Miami team taking on a Milwaukee team featuring the reigning MVP and current DPOY.

Butler and the Heat made easy work of the Pacers, behind his averaging 19.8 points and 2.5 steals over the four-game series sweep. Goran Dragic came up huge as well when he got the bump to the starting lineup after spending the entire season coming off the pine.

The Dragon finished the series averaging 22.8 points and 1.3 steals per game.

Among the things to watch, Bam Adebayo’s defense on Antetokounmpo will top the list. Butler will have his work to do with Khris Middleton having regained his rhythm as one of the NBA’s best shooters. And both teams have a depth that is almost unmatched elsewhere in the league.

The Heat finished the regular season with a second unit that boasted 41.8 points per game (6th in the NBA) and was knocking down 5.8 three-point attempts (3rd) nightly. Milwaukee’s bench finished 8th (40 points per game), and 2nd (three-pointers made) in those areas respectively.

When it comes to predictions, I can’t comfortably put my stamp on either of these teams winning the series in four, five, six, or a war-like seven games. Is it reasonable to think that whoever wins this round will represent the Eastern Conference in the upcoming Finals?

Miami only fell to the bottom half of the East’s eight playoff teams because they willingly rested their players knowing that home-court advantage was moot inside the Orlando bubble. And Milwaukee only had to go five games in the first round because they underestimated the Magic.

The Heat and Bucks are both legitimate championship contenders, meeting in the second round only by the credit of fate. Both rosters were built up from the ground up, with depth, versatility, All-Star power and some may agree that both teams have “superstar” power too.

That’s the point I’m trying to make here. Any one game in this series could control the fate of this matchup for either team. And no matter what game it is, it’s not over until it’s over.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat will start their Eastern Conference Semi-Finals duel on Monday. Game 1 tips off at 6:30 pm est. Coverage will be provided by TNT and TNT Overtime.