Milwaukee Bucks: 3 advantages in first round series against Miami Heat
The Milwaukee Bucks are two days away from the start of their first round rematch against the Miami Heat to kick off their massive playoff run.
Of course, the challenges that come with vanquishing the team that ended the Bucks’ season last year are plenty and the Bucks have a staggering amount of motivation to translate their regular season success and experimentation into the playoffs this year.
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Milwaukee clearly isn’t the same team they were last season and the same rings true for Miami as they look to defend their Eastern Conference Champion title going into the playoffs. With all of these changes to sort through, the Bucks come out with some distinct advantages they have in their back pocket than what was the case last year.
So without further ado, let’s break down three of the biggest advantages the Milwaukee Bucks have going for them as they prepare to take on the Miami Heat.
Milwaukee Bucks have home court advantage working in their favor
The Bucks having home court advantage is quite a more literal advantage that we’ll see play out in this year’s series with the Heat.
That’s certainly more than what we could have said for last year as Miami tore through Milwaukee in the Conference Semifinals down in the bubble in Orlando. By toppling the top-seeded Bucks, the Heat eventually paved the path to become the third-lowest seed to book their trip to the NBA Finals.
Of course, the context behind the Bucks’ playoff implosion and Miami’s Cinderella-type run towards the NBA Finals was very much informed by the coronavirus pandemic and the long layoff that led the league towards creating the bubble in the first place.
While the threat of COVID clearly still exists as the Bucks and Heat can attest to, having teams play in their home markets has given some return to normalcy and the Bucks restored order by having a 26-10 record at home this year.
With more fans in attendance going into the start of the postseason as well, we’ll see if playing at Fiserv Forum will give the Bucks the fortress they need to withstand this challenging matchups against the Heat.