NBA Playoffs: Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks Game 1 Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Milwaukee Bucks want swift revenge over the Miami Heat in the first round of the East playoffs. Giannis and the boys still remember the shocking defeat Miami inflicted them in the semis last year, and craves the set the records straight. It was a shocker back at the time as the majority of fans already saw the Bucks in the East finals waiting for their rivals. As for the Heat, they had a season filled with ups and downs, but eventually became consistent as the end of the regular part approached. This team has excellent chemistry, and as we saw, knows how to play in the playoffs.

Preview

Miami Heat (+175) entered the playoffs with eight wins in ten games, looking ready for the postseason challenges. The only two defeats they had during that period were against the Dallas Mavs and the Bucks. Other than that, they would post wins pretty much without too many problems.

We don’t need to tell you too much about this team and its mentality. The Heat players like to be underdogs as that fuels them, especially Jimmy Butler, their leader. Jimmy B was very solid this year, with 21.5 points and 6.9 rebounds, but with 7.1 assists and the fifth overall PER rating in the league, 26.57.

His Miami has Bam Adebayo under the rim, who had a breakthrough season, but they will depend very much on Tyler Herro, whose points and offensive efficiency might be crucial in the matchup with the Bucks.

Milwaukee Bucks (-200) had the same record in the last 10 games of the season, 8-2, only they lost to San Antonio and Chicago, both on the road. The latter game was the season finale, and Mike Budenholzer rested his big stars.

Needless to say that Giannis leads the way among the Bucks, with one of the best players in the last decade topping pretty much all the team’s statistical columns. Antetokounmpo posts 28.1 points each night and has 11 boards, plus almost 6 dimes. He also has an exquisite shooting percentage of 57.7%.

The Bucks’ offensive arsenal has been very sharp in the final part of the regular season. Milwaukee scored at least 112 points in the latest nine games, meaning that they reached full speed. And what makes their fans happier is the fact that Giannis wasn’t always the best scorer, meaning that other players stepped up, taking the responsibility.

Head to Head Games

The result in the season series is 2-1 in Bucks’ favor. They would humiliate the Heat in Miami in the first game, 144-97, but lost one night after, 119-108. Last Sunday, the teams met for the third time, and the Bucks had no problems posting a 122-108 win at Fiserv.

Prediction

The Bucks’ offense is looking much, much better than Miami’s right now. That is one of the reasons why we give a slight edge to the hosts of this event. Also, playing at Fiserv is another one. Even the limited attendance might be of help to the Bucks’ players. We don’t believe that the guests have the key for Giannis, who has very good support and help coming from teammates in recent times. Jrue Holiday started playing at the expected level, saving Giannis’ energy while organizing attacks. Because of that, we predict Milwaukee’s win in Game 1.