The Milwaukee Bucks won an NBA championship as recently as 2021. The Miami Heat won a conference title as recently as 2023.
Yet, despite their pedigree, the Bucks and Heat — who will meet on Tuesday night in an NBA Cup East Group B game in Miami — have struggled this season.
That’s especially true for Milwaukee, which lost eight of its first 10 games. Miami, meanwhile, hasn’t been more than one game above .500 at any point in its current campaign.
Then again, the Bucks — coached by Doc Rivers — have won four straight games and six of seven. They are 2-0 in the NBA Cup round-robin standings. Miami is 1-1.
Rivers has pointed to the unselfish play of his two superstars, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
Antetokounmpo leads the NBA in scoring (32.4) and ranks second on the Bucks in assists (6.4). Lillard is second on Milwaukee in scoring (25.2) and leads the Bucks in assists (7.4).
“When you have your scorers passing,” Rivers said, “it’s hard to stop you.”
Lillard, after missing three games due to a concussion, has come back strong. He has three double-doubles in his past four games, and he is averaging 9.3 assists during that span.
“He is driving to pass,” Rivers said, “and that’s not something he was doing earlier in the year.”
Antetokounmpo, who has missed just one game this season, is shooting 62.4 percent on 2-pointers and averaging 11.9 rebounds.
Antetokounmpo said he never lost belief in himself, even when the Bucks were 2-8 to start the season.
“My confidence has always been high because I work,” he said. “I trust myself.
“But the beginning of the season was miserable for everybody. We don’t want to go back to that. Right now, we are clicking.”
Meanwhile, the host Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 123-118 in overtime on Sunday.
Miami’s Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 33 points, including the score-tying dunk with 4.1 seconds left in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
After the game, Butler praised his coach and teased teammate Duncan Robinson, who made the perfect pass for the assist on the dunk.
“(Heat coach Erik Spoelstra) was locked in,” Butler said. “He studies like nobody I’ve ever seen. He drew up something incredible, and I hate to say it but Duncan made an incredible pass.”
Butler, off to a bit of a slow start this season, now has two straight 30-point-plus games. He ranks second on the team in scoring (19.2), second in assists (5.0) and third in rebounds (5.7).
Miami’s Pelle Larsson, a rookie second-round pick from Sweden who is starting to get more playing time, put into perspective the “Butler Effect.”
“It’s easy to play with Jimmy because he demands so much attention from a defense,” said Larsson, who scored 14 points in 37 minutes off the bench on Sunday. “I get to shoot open shots.”
With Heat starting guard Terry Rozier sitting out for the Dallas game due to a right foot injury, Larsson and other reserves came through. Rozier is probable for Tuesday.
Miami’s current bench brigade includes veterans Alec Burks and Kevin Love as well as youngsters Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.
Larsson, though, earned special praise from Spoelstra on Sunday.
“Pelle plays so hard,” Spoelstra said. “He throws his body around.”
–Field Level Media