The No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks are suddenly down by two games in the second round of the playoffs against the Miami Heat, who are still unbeaten since the postseason kicked off. Will the Bucks end their drought this coming Friday and cut the Heat’s series lead in half? Or will the Heat bury Milwaukee deeper? Check out our preview of this game below.
The Bucks have their backs against the wall. With their 116-114 loss on Wednesday to Miami, the Bucks are now down 0-2 in the series and the answers to their malaise should come quick if they are to avoid going down a deeper hole. In Game 2, the Bucks saw Giannis Antetokounmpo score 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Khris Middleton had 23 points and eight assists and finished plus-18. But despite their two best players playing well, the Bucks could not overcome their salty 28 percent shooting from deep. Milwaukee shot just 7 for 25 from behind the arc. Those shots have to fall for Milwaukee, whose outside shooting is getting eclipsed by Miami in the series.
The Bucks are 4-2 against the spread in their last six games. The over is 4-1 in the Bucks’ last five games as the road team.
Whether their win in Game 2 was controversial or not, the bottom line is that the Heat are now enjoying a good lead in the series. All they have to do is take care of it. Goran Dragic led Miami in Game 2, with his 23 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Dragic has now scored at least 20 points in his last six playoff games, and he’ll look to continue that streak against Milwaukee’s defense that is allowing Miami to wreak havoc from the 3-point region. While the Bucks struggled to buy a basket from deep in Game 2, the Heat were able to knock down 17 of their 45 3-point attempts. So far in the playoffs, the Heat are making 38.8 percent of their 3-point shots.
The Heat are 6-0 against the spread in their last six games. The under is 5-2 in their last seven games.
