Bucks vs. Heat: NBA Playoffs

The NBA playoffs have been quite strange so far. Maybe it’s the fact that everyone is in a bubble, or it could just be that this is a weird year for basketball as a whole. It’s not often you see the #1 seed taken down in the second round like we saw in the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks series.

All year, the Bucks were the best team in the NBA and the census favorite to win the NBA Finals. Coming back from the restart though, they never quite found the rhythm they had before the league was shut down, and the Heat only got better over the break. 

Leading MVP candidate and Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was injured in Game 3 and 4, which caused him to miss a crucial elimination game in which his team ultimately would lose to Miami. The Heat came out hot in the series and never looked back. Miami was able to secure a 3-0 victory within the first three games. The odds were in their favor since no team has ever lost a best of seven series leading with 3-0. 

The Bucks now come up short in back-to-back years after being the #1 seed consecutively, while Miami advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the time since 2014. The question now is what’s next for Milwaukee. Will there be roster or staff changes in the offseason? Will they go out and sign a max free agent? Certainly, there is tension rising within the organization to win a championship fast. With Giannis’s free agency looming in 2021, another failure of a season could result in the departure of their star player and the end of championship aspirations in Milwaukee.