The Milwaukee Bucks' last season was a painful finish following their Eastern Conference finals loss to the Miami Heat. The Heat took the home run on the court with a 4-1 win over the Bucks. The rivalry of the two eastern giants has been established to continue for the new season.
For the Milwaukee Bucks, this was a heavy blow, especially on the part of last season's MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has not played in Game 5 due to an ankle sprain.
The burden was passed to Khris Middleton, but the two-time All-Star could only get away with a Game 4 win over the Miami Heat. The Heat showed that they are the dark horse candidate of the conference. No one saw that a squad full of questionable chemistry could reach the Conference finals and even the Grand finals.
How has the rivalry fared for the two teams so far?
Bucks Ambushed Heat in their Season's First Encounter
A growing number of skeptics for the Milwaukee Bucks sprouted at the start of their conference finals defeat. The Bucks knew that they should go for a stellar finish to erase the doubts from their haters.
The Milwaukee Bucks are not a shooting team.
In the 2019-2020 season, the Bucks ranked 17th with only 35.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc. This, however, will not suppress the Bucks from pushing their limits farther.
A reunion with their rival team Miami Heat became an all-out bombing from the outside. The Milwaukee Bucks exacted their revenge on the Miami Heat through a 144-97 trashing.
The Bucks also set an NBA record for the most threes shot in the game. The Giannis-led team notched a total of 29 triples on 51 attempts in a single game. They surpassed the Houston Rockets' previous record of 27 in 2019.
The Miami Heat took note of the Bucks' weakness. Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was heavily guarded, and he only shot nine points in 24 minutes. This angle would open a take-away that while Giannis succumbed to the offense, the Bucks could suddenly rely on their shooters for a blowout.
Giannis' streak of 108 games with double-digit scores came to an end. But, the Bucks' win exposed how Jrue Holiday could burst into a triple machine after dropping six out of 10 shots from the deep.
The Miami Heat played without Jimmy Butler, and it even worsened the Heat's arsenal to match the raining threes of the Bucks.
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Heat Avenged a 47- point Blowout
It's payback time for the Miami Heat after an embarrassing blowout to the Bucks. The Miami Heat bounced back with a 119-108 win without Jimmy Butler for the second time this season.
Erik Spoelstra recognized how his team got crushed by a barrage of outside shots. For sure, Spoelstra reviewed the changes that he will deploy for Miami.
The Milwaukee Bucks reverted to a mediocre shooting team when they only shot 16 out of 41 from the deep. Spoelstra valued the rotation and made adjustments to guard the perimeter at their best.
Spoelstra pulled a weird Andrea Iguodala-start at power forward for an effective perimeter lockdown. The play rotated around Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic, and All-Star center Bam Adebayo, who all spearheaded the revenge win over the Bucks.
The Miami Heat stepped up on defense, outrebounding the Bucks at 52-47. But, they had a total of 22 turnovers, so Spoelstra triggered shooter Dragic to explode for 26 points.
Adebayo added a near triple-double of 22 points, ten assists, and eight rebounds. Herro raided the Bucks with 21 markers and a career-high 15 rebounds.
It's no surprise how the Heat reversed the mental gymnastics that stemmed from a bitter loss when Spoelstra transformed his players into the court monsters. Truly, the Heat closed 2020 with a punctuating statement to the Bucks.
The Miami Heat is now 2-2 while the Bucks rest at 2-3.
What's next for these two teams? Let's wait how far this rivalry goes as 2021 heads for a brand-new beginning.
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