NBA: Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks Game 2 Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks continue their brutal playoff fight tonight in Game 2 of the East Conference first-round series. The Bucks won the opening game after Khris Middleton’s magic, and now want to add another win and secure themselves a nice lead before jumping to Florida. On the other side, the Heat aims to snatch at least one break, which would be a massive boost of morale and something that might propel them into the East semis.

Preview

Miami Heat (+165) lost the first match solely because its best players shot terribly from the field. Jimmy Butler, for example, was 4-for-22, and even though he recorded 17 points in the end and scored a basket that forced the overtime, his poor shooting was noticeable.

But what definitely took a toll on Miami’s game was the shooting percentage of their other two important players, Tyler Herro, 2-for-10, and Bam Adebayo 4-for-15. The two had 19 points combined, which is too few for one playoff night. Herro is the guy who comes off the bench and delivers a boost of energy on the court, while Adebayo makes the offense more diverse by adding some points under the rim.

The bright spots in Game 1 were Goran Dragic with 25 points off the bench and Duncan Robinson, who had 24. These two sharpshooters had 12 threes combined, and were the only ones who kept the guests hanging on.

Milwaukee Bucks (-185) squeezed out a victory in Game 1, and they better get used to games like this if they want to win the championship. They have, without a doubt, the roughest path to the title. At first, the Heat, then the Nets, 76ers, and finally the West champions. Now, this is all projected, but still, it looks terrifying.

You know who else looks terrifying? Khris Middleton. He took the responsibility and delivered a fantastic out-of-balance jumper that tore the net. It seems that Middleton elevated his game enormously in the past year or so, or maybe he was already there, but we just overlooked that.

He ended the night with 27 points along with six boards and assists each. He and Giannis played 45 minutes, and the two-time MVP concluded the night, scoring 26 points, 18 boards, and five dimes. We also need to mention Jrue Holiday, who had 20 buckets and 11 boards, and Brook Lopez with 10 points.

Head to Head Games

Overall this year, the Bucks have three wins over the Heat, who posted just one. Game 1 ended 109-107, by the way, as we didn’t mention that before now. The previous three games ended:

Bucks vs. Heat 144-97
Bucks vs. Heat 108-119
Heat vs. Bucks 108-122

Prediction

The line for the total number of points is 221.5. After seeing Game 1, that is too much because both teams play mean and rough playoff basketball. On one side, you have Giannis and Jrue Holiday, who are among the top defenders in the league, while on the other, their counterparts are Butler and Adebayo. Therefore, we would suggest here betting on Under points. And that would probably be the case in the games to come.