Just two days after knocking the Orlando Magic out of the playoffs, the Milwaukee Bucks turn right around to open the second round of the playoffs against the Miami Heat on Monday night (5:30 p.m.) inside the NBA’s Orlando bubble.
The Heat swept the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the playoffs and have had a week of rest since then. The Bucks will have to overcome Miami’s advantage in prep time for the series opener.
The Bucks needed five games to dispatch the Magic after Orlando won the series opener.
“It is a very quick turn, but if you’ve been in the league a long time it’s probably happened to a team you’ve been a part of,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “I think one of our hopes is just to keep them as clean and free as they can be and go out and play and not over-complicate it, which coaches tend to do.”
No team defends the paint better than the Bucks do, but the test for Milwaukee will be to continue to defend the lane and get out to contest the three-point line. Miami ranked second in the NBA in three-point percentage (37.9%) this season and hit just over 39% from distance in their four-game sweep of the Pacers.
Miami’s top shooter from the perimeter is second-year guard Duncan Robinson, who hit 44.6% from distance this season.
The Bucks could be without their starting point guard, Eric Bledsoe as well. Bledsoe is listed as questionable with a right hamstring strain.