Milwaukee Bucks: 3 matchups that will be pivotal against Miami Heat
By Dalton Sell
With the regular season officially concluding Sunday, the Milwaukee Bucks are set to take on the Miami Heat in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
It will be a headline-filled rematch following Miami’s 4-1 upset victory over the Bucks in last year’s Conference Semifinals. Milwaukee will now have to exorcise their demons straight away against the team that defeated them last season or they will be doomed to suffer yet another early postseason exit.
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Although several key pieces are returning for each side, both the Bucks and Heat look somewhat different this time around. Each team has improved the strength of their supporting casts since their last meeting in the postseason.
However, Miami is slated to be without former All-Star guard Victor Oladipo for the series as recently he underwent surgery on his quadriceps tendon after playing just four games with the club.
Even without Oladipo in the fold, the Heat are undoubtedly a formidable foe for the Bucks to overcome this early in the playoff picture. If they will earn redemption and defeat Miami in this series, here are three matchups that will be crucial to their success.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo will have to disrupt Heat’s crafty backcourt
Donte DiVincenzo’s promotion into the starting lineup this season has him playing a more prominent role than ever before, which will be heightened in the playoffs.
The young guard will see more responsibility defensively against a pair of lethal guards in Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro that could prove troublesome. Both players had a field day against the Bucks in last year’s postseason meeting, meaning keeping them in check will be pivotal this time around. It will be a significant responsibility for the 23-year-old, but he has done a solid job against them both in their three meetings throughout the regular season.
Albeit a rather small sample size, DiVincenzo held Herro scoreless across five 18.3 partial possessions when matched up together this season, per NBA.com/stats. Herro was 0-for-2 from the floor with a turnover in that timeframe and failed to make much impact offensively. However, Herro has a quick trigger when it comes to shooting the ball and can heat up in a hurry. His perimeter shooting is certainly his biggest strong suit, meaning DiVincenzo must stick close to him at all times.
DiVincenzo will likely see time against Dragic in addition to Herro, and the Slovenian guard is also someone with a history of doing extensive damage to this Milwaukee team. Dragic torched Eric Bledsoe, a two-time All-Defensive honoree, in last year’s playoff meeting between these two teams, and now DiVincenzo will be put to the test in slowing Dragic down. Although it is another small sample size, he did a solid job in their regular season meetings by holding him to 0-for-3 shooting in 13.4 partial possessions.
This will be a big leap for DiVincenzo entering his first postseason in a starting role and he will have his hands full against these two. Although his regular season success against them stands out, time will tell if it translates.