3 takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ blowout 111-95 loss to the Heat

The Miami Heat did most of their damage from inside the paint and it made for a tough matchup for the Bucks

Not having Giannis Antetokounmpo in Saturday’s game proved costly in more ways than one. Antetokounmpo has a massive presence not only on the offensive end but on the defensive end too.

The Heat had 54 points in the paint in Saturday’s game. The Bucks predominately play a drop-coverage defense, and since Brook Lopez was the only big on Saturday, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Gabe Vincent had a lot of easy looks from inside the paint. As a result, they dropped in a lot of floaters of Lopez. Adebayo is especially a tough matchup for Lopez because he’s an agile big and creates a lot of matchup problems for guys like Lopez who normally don’t step outside the paint to guard a big who can shoot.

Antetokounmpo erases a lot of holes defensively because of his insane athleticism and penchant for making the key play defensively. Jrue Holiday is a great defender, but his impact on the game isn’t as strong without Antetokounmpo’s presence on the floor. Brook Lopez is a potential Defensive Player of the Year, candidate but if he’s the only guy locking down the paint, you can attack the paint against Milwaukee as you saw what the Heat did in Saturday’s game.

Milwaukee has a much-needed day before a matinee against the Indiana Pacers on MLK Day. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. CST on Bally Sports Wisconsin.