Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from season series against Miami Heat

Jimmy Butler didn’t play a single second in the Milwaukee Bucks’ season series with the Heat

While the Bucks put forth better efforts and performances against the Heat this season, there’s one big caveat that stood out throughout the three games in Miami and Milwaukee. That was the absences of Heat All-Star wing Jimmy Butler.

Whether it was a sprained ankle that kept him out of the back-to-back that went down in late in December or being held out of the Bucks’ penultimate game of the season due to lower back tightness, Butler was sidelined for all three meetings against the Bucks.

That mirrors the Bucks’ season series throughout the 2019-20 season in which Butler appeared in only one of the three meetings between the two sides. Those niggling injuries as well as his bout with COVID-19 earlier this season limited Butler to 52 appearances on the season, even though he’s still on track for his fourth potential All-NBA selection.

To what extent Butler’s lower back tightness will affect his play or even his availability remains to be seen. But it goes without saying that Butler will be one of the biggest sources of the Bucks’ concerns going into the series.