The Bucks are “Rocking and Rolling”
The 35-17 Milwaukee Bucks take on the 29-24 Miami Heat Saturday Night at the Fiserv forum. Milwaukee lost to the Heat in game one 108-102. In that game both teams rested a ton of players and Milwaukee, for whatever reason, decided to take a season high 57 three point attempts. In game two, also in Miami two days later, Miami won 111-95. It was a low point for the Bucks.
Milwaukee was up 23-14 after the first quarter of game 1. Hopefully, they get off to a fast start on their way to 118 total points.
Vegas has the Bucks as 5 point favorites and are given a 68% chance to win.
This is also a game to celebrate Milwaukee product Tyler Herro. Skip down to the opponent section to see some images from his return to Milwaukee and Whitnall High School to have his jersey retired.
The Keys for the Bucks
Score over 118 points
Milwaukee has been busy scoring in buckets lately. This offense is hot. Over this past six game winning streak the Bucks have averaged 127.1 points. That is about as good as we’ve seen. It is the NBA regular season basketball where defense can feel non-existent at times.
In this space we really have figured it out- the magic number is 118. Charlotte scores 115, we score more and win. In Milwaukee’s most recent loss to Cleveland they held them to 114 points. So, had the Bucks managed to score 118 points they would have won. However, they only scored 102. That’s not 118.
Milwaukee averages 60 points in the first half in games at home. That’s 7th in the NBA. 118 is really starting to feel like a “magic number”.
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“Move your feet”- don’t reach
The Bucks committed 12 personal fouls against the Heat this year in game two of their season series. It kept the game close.
Right now the Bucks average 19 ½ team fouls a game. Last year they only averaged 17.8. That does not seem like much but it may be why we are seeing such streaky play in the 4th quarter.
In the win against LA, the Bucks only had 17 fouls.
Against Charlotte Milwaukee had 21 fouls. That kept the game closer than it needed to be.
When Milwaukee fouls less, they play better.
The Opponent: The Miami Heat
In our game one Miami Heat vs Bucks preview we really went into depth about Tyler Herro. The Milwaukee native, who attended Whitnall High School in Greenfield Wisconsin, was out in Game 1. On Friday February 3rd the school honored him by retiring his jersey.
Herro verbally committed to play for UW-Madison, only to commit to Kentucky. He then went on to get drafted by the Heat. He recently signed a 4 year, $130 million dollar contract.
Jimmy Butler is also a bonafide star for Miami. However unlike Herro, his career stats against Milwaukee are not as strong (15/4/4). That doesn’t mean he won’t be up to play. He is averaging 22 points a game this season, above his career average.
Bam Adebayo is a really interesting player. Only 25, he seems to be coming into his prime. Averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds per game, Adebayo really is the engine that drives the Heat, even more so than point guard Kyle Lowry.
Things to tell your buddies as you are watching the game
- The Miami Heat have been around for 35 years. They have made the playoffs in 23 of those seasons.
- The Milwaukee Bucks have been around for 55 years. They have made the playoffs in 34 seasons.
- Miami is known for its nightlife and nightclubs. LIV Miami is one of the most iconic. From Dwayne Wade to Gwyneth Paltrow to Ben Stiller, celebs flock to this particular club which has been recognized as one of the best in the world.
- I vividly remember watching game six of the 2021 NBA Championship that Milwaukee won at my favorite West Allis Club, Club Paragon. To the best of my knowledge, Drake or Will Smith have never attended there.
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