Miami Heat: Why Game 1 Of NBA Playoffs Against Milwaukee Bucks Was A Must-Win
By Isiah Curry
The Miami Heat had a chance to win Game 1 over the Bucks, but they played right into Milwaukee’s defensive hands.
While both teams didn’t shoot particularly well (Heat – 36 percent, Bucks – 43 percent), Milwaukee gave them several chances to win with their inefficient shooting in Game 1. Though the Heat did manage to hold Giannis Antetokounmpo to just 10-37 shooting, with repeated missed free-throws in the clutch and resulting in a 6-for-13 night from the line, it wasn’t enough to get it done in the end.
But to Milwaukee’s credit, they did begin to ramp-up their defensive intensity in the second-quarter, swarming Miami both on the perimeter and most especially inside. Those efforts limited the Heat’s stars, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, in their abilities to create opportunities for their teammates and for themselves.
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The Bucks baited the Heat’s five-time All-Star into having one of the most abysmal playoff shooting performances of his career. Butler continued to play right into the hands of the Bucks defense — by continuing to try his luck from outside the arc.
While this is the aggressiveness and confidence your best player should have in any franchise, it’s simply important to realize just when to keep others involved or when something else should be deployed, strategy wise.