Milwaukee Bucks need to be more physical in future meetings with Miami Heat

After falling to their second loss of the season against the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks should look to be more physical in future matchups.

The Milwaukee Bucks don’t lose twice to the same team very often, but that’s exactly what happened on Monday night.

Since Mike Budenholzer took over as head coach only three teams have managed to beat the Bucks multiple times in a single regular season, with Milwaukee falling twice to the Phoenix Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder last year, and now to the Miami Heat this year.

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Of course, the losses to the Heat are very different to those against the Suns and Thunder. Not only are the Heat an Eastern Conference foe, but they are good enough that there’s a very strong chance the Bucks could yet find themselves in a series with Miami come playoff time.

That means that in the aftermath of Monday’s defeat, there are a wide variety of questions that will be asked in regard to how the Bucks match up with Miami, and that can only be answered, at the earliest, when the teams meet again in a couple of weeks.

Much of the focus around that will likely fall on the ability of the Bucks, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, in particular, to break down the Heat defense, the ability of Milwaukee’s supporting cast to knock down shots, and whether Mike Budenholzer’s league-best defensive scheme may give up too many open threes to a team such as Miami, who rank second in the league in terms of 3-point percentage.

Just as important, though, may well be the way the Bucks approach the game.

One of the most striking elements of Monday’s contest was just how aggressively the Heat applied themselves on both ends. The Heat have long prided themselves on their hard-nosed approach, and it was in evidence as the Bucks came into town.

Miami’s approach to slowing down Antetokounmpo didn’t just amount to showing him a wall of bodies, but making him feel the physicality of their defenders. On another night, that approach may have led to greater foul calls going in the Bucks’ favor, but in this game the Heat established how they were going to defend early, and when they weren’t getting punished by the officials, then only pressed on with it.

By and large, the Bucks didn’t meet them in that challenge. It’s no surprise that Milwaukee’s standout individual performers on the night leaned into their respective physical strengths either.

Brook Lopez did more than his usual share of work in the post, bullying his way to the basket, and getting to the free throw line. While with his relentless energy and reliably intense style of play, Donte DiVincenzo was as disruptive as ever defensively, but also managed to channel that into fueling a crucial offensive run in the first half.

Perhaps Milwaukee’s cause would have been helped if some of their most willing enforcers, such as Sterling Brown and Robin Lopez, had played larger roles. Instead, Brown had to make do with garbage time minutes, while RoLo logged a DNP.

Of all the teams that the Bucks may come up against in the postseason, the Heat may well require them to mix things up most drastically. That may not be true of their overall strategy or schemes, but it will certainly require the way they channel their competitive energy to evolve with a nastier streak than they’re generally required to show from night to night.