Recently, I had the pleasure of witnessing the Heat’s improbable round 1 takedown of the number-one seeded Milwaukee Bucks from inside Fiserv Forum. Here’s a breakdown on how they did it.
Written by: Joseph Rothner
1 May, 2023
Dealing With Giannis
Firstly, the Heat did an excellent job dealing with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is widely known for being one of the best forwards in basketball. Although he was injured in game 1, and missed the next two games, the Heat were able to limit his impact upon his return. By locking up the low side, the Heat forced Antetokounmpo to dribble in his drives, and take more midrange jumpers instead of his traditional playstyle of driving to the rim for layups. Additionally, by defending the post well, the Heat took his other option of passing up, leaving him with the option to either pass outside, or drive the ball in. When Giannis did drive the ball in, he was fouled routinely, limiting his impact on scoring even further, especially considering his lackluster performances from the free throw line, such as an abysmal 10-23 in the Heat’s series-clinching game 5. And while Giannis still scored a decent amount, averaging 23.3 points per game, this was a far cry from his usual scoring dominance.
Bucks can't figure out a Giannis-less way to win
With Giannis mitigated as an option, the Bucks were forced to turn to their other leading scorers, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. Both players were used much more as facilitators, though, and didn’t have the same outside shooting role as they usually did. Ironically enough, the Bucks had their best game of the series in game 2, as Giannis’s absence allowed Khris Middleton to take a much more aggressive role as the team’s leading scorer, with Middleton focusing on his short and midrange game instead of 3-point shooting. Once Giannis returned, however, the Bucks were disorganized, with no clear game plan as to how they would beat the Heat defense. This became clear in game 4, where after failing to successfully break the Heat defense, the Bucks put up bad shot after bad shot, leading to Jrue Holiday shooting an abysmal 2-11 from 3. This continued in game 5, where the Bucks continued to shoot bad shots after Giannis couldn’t get to the rim. The Bucks gained the lead by focusing on creating good shot opportunities to open the second half, eventually jumping out to a 16 point lead. But they then regressed back into their old habits, and made just 3 shots in the entire 4th quarter, leading to overtime, and an eventual Heat victory.
Heat catch fire offensively
On the other end of the court, the Heat played exceptionally, averaging a stellar 124 points per game. The impetus for this explosion in scoring? Jimmy Butler, who showed just how dominant he can be when he needs to be. The Bucks expected the Heat to focus more on 3 point shooting, as well as driving the ball, using Bam Adebayo as a strong presence under the rim. However, the Heat ended up using both Adebayo and Gabe Vincent as facilitators, setting up an offense that effectively used outside screens to set up 3 point shots by Kevin Love, who took over this mantle from Tyler Herro, who was injured in game 1. The Heat offense also utilized Butler extremely efficiently, using him as both an inside scorer as well as an outside shooter. This worked extremely well, and led to Butler having back-to-back 40+ point performances in games 4 and 5. Adebayo also played well, as well as Vincent, leading to a Heat offense that had strong performers all around the court.
In conclusion, the Heat’s unexpected victory over the Bucks was a testament to great defensive strategy, as well as a stellar offense led by Jimmy Butler’s historic scoring. The Heat look to continue this magic against New York in the Eastern Semifinals, while the Bucks are left scratching their heads trying to figure out what went wrong.
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