The Milwaukee Bucks shoot for their seventh straight victory as they host the Miami Heat at 9:00 AM on NBA TV Philippines, available on Smart LiveStream and Cignal TV.
What’s up with the Bucks?
Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t probably admit it but it seems like he heard all the talk about Nikola Jokic being on pace to win a third straight MVP award. A two-time MVP himself, Antetokounmpo is re-establishing himself as arguably the league’s best player. Antetokounmpo being named the best is debatable but being the most dominant is not.
Antetokounmpo grabbed the spotlight yesterday in the Bucks’ win over Clippers with a 54-point, 19-rebound effort. He scored the last 12 points for his squad in another display of relentless scoring. It was his third 50-point game this season and second in three outings.
It’s one thing to put up eye-popping numbers in both the scoring and rebounding departments but he’s also shooting an incredibly high clip. He has scored at least 33 points in five straight games while shooting at least 53 percent.
The Bucks have won seven straight on the heels of Antetokounmpo’s brilliance and currently own a 35-17 record. Not only do they want to keep their streak alive but they’ll also want to avenge their two losses against the Heat in January. In those back-to-back defeats, they didn’t have their two-time MVP as well as Khris Middleton.
What’s up with the Heat?
The Heat are coming off a disappointing loss at the hands of the Knicks. It was a clash between two East rivals that went down the wire. A coach’s challenge correctly awarded Heat the ball in the waning moments but Tyler Herro missed a 3-pointer that could’ve won the game. Newly-named All-Star Bam Adebayo led his squad with 32 points and nine rebounds.
Despite the loss to the Knicks, the Heat have been stringing together impressive wins. Since beating the Bucks twice in mid-January, they’ve won over other playoff contenders, such as the Pelicans, Celtics, and Cavaliers. Unfortunately, they’ve also had a few head-scratching losses, including a shortcoming against the lottery-bound Hornets. Nonetheless, they are still top six in the Eastern Conference with a 29-24 record.
The cornerstones of the Miami team are still Jimmy Butler and Adebayo. They lead the team in scoring with roughly 21 points per game. When those two get it going, the Heat are tough to beat. Inversely, it’s hard for them to win if they don’t have their one-two punch. Take for example their recent against the Knicks. As mentioned, Bam had 32. Butler, however, had a rough shooting night and scored just 10 points. Assuming the Bucks are in full force, the Heat need to have both Butler and Adebeyo at the top of their game.
The Heat have always been under-the-radar good. They’re usually not in the conversation when you talk about the NBA Finals or winning it all and yet they can potentially always have a deep playoff run. They’re a scrappy and dangerous team who can go toe-to-toe with the best.
They’ve already won over the Bucks twice this season and they’re hoping to make it a hat trick tomorrow.
