It was far from pretty, but the Milwaukee Bucks held serve in their first-round series with the Miami Heat and will look to go up 2-0 as the teams renew hostilities Monday night at Fiserv Forum. The Bucks (47-26 SU, 32-41 ATS) overcame wretched 3-point shooting to steal a 109-107 win from a Miami team (40-33 SU, 35-36-2 ATS) that fell short but extended its hot ATS run.
- Date/Time: May 24, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Arena: Fiserv Forum
- TV Coverage: TNT
- Sportsbook Odds: Bucks -4 | O/U 223.5 (Line History)
- Heat vs Bucks Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The Bucks opened as 4.5-point favorites for the second game in a row, but the line has settled in at -4 at most sportsbooks. The total opened at 223.5 but is now set at 222.5 at most sportsbooks.
Miami News & Notes
The Heat have to be kicking themselves after missing out on a chance to go up 1-0 on the favored Bucks, who are now massive -500 favorites to advance to Round 2. Miami was out-rebounded 64-51, outscored 56-24 in the paint and watched the Bucks enjoy a 33-19 advantage in free-throw attempts, and still came within a whisker of stealing home-court advantage.
The Heat will almost certainly get more out of superstar Jimmy Butler in Game 2 after he struggled mightily with his shot in the opener. Butler, who led the Heat to the NBA Finals last season, shot a miserable 4-of-22 from the field (and just 2-of-9 from beyond the arc) for 17 points, though he did add 10 rebounds and eight assists in defeat.
Milwaukee News & Notes
The Bucks shot better, rebounded better, dominated the painted area and took 14 more free throws than the Heat. So why didn't they win by more? They couldn't buy a bucket from outside, making just five of their 31 3-point attempts in one of their worst long-range shooting performances of the season. They also squandered their free-throw edge, making just 60.6 per cent.
While his struggles weren't quite on the level of his Heat counterpart, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is in line for a stronger offensive showing after having a rough day (10-27 FG, 0-3 3 PT, 6-13 FT) in the series curtain raiser. And like Butler, Antetokounmpo found other ways to contribute, throwing in 18 rebounds, five assists and three steals in the win.
Betting Pick: Heat -4.5 (-110)
Miami had a lot go against them in the opener and they still nearly pulled out the victory. Look for the defending Eastern Conference champs to clean things up and comfortably cover in Game 2.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- MIA is 8-4 ATS in the last 12 meetings vs MIL.
- Milwaukee is 1-7 ATS in its previous 8 games.
- The OVER is 11-3 in the Heat's last 14 games.
