The Eastern Conference's top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks will face the Miami Heat, who won their play-in matchup Friday to seize the East's eighth and final playoff spot, in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs. The last time these two teams squared off in the postseason, Milwaukee swept Miami in 2021's first round.
, but Milwaukee still rolled behind six players in double figures, thanks to a plus-30 differential from behind the arc .I know this is a hot take, but I’d probably pencil that Giannis guy into my closing lineup. Seems like he could help the ballclub a little bit.
Antetokounmpo and Holiday, arguably the best defensive guard in the sport and an aggressive isolation scorer and playmaker when called upon, will be on the court whenever it matters most. If he's healthy enough to move laterally on defense, so will Middleton.
Lopez, in all likelihood, will join them. At first glance, you’d think a 7-foot-1, 282-pound center would profile as a liability in the context of a postseason series against opponents who might look to downsize and spread the court. In practice, though, it’s not easy to play this particular giant off the floor.
Lopez shoots well enough to space in his own right, drilling a career-high 37.4% from deep this season on nearly five 3-point attempts per game. He can punish switches by taking smaller defenders to the block — he’s scored 103 points on 88 post-ups against non-centers this season, according to Second Spectrum, which works out to a very healthy 1.17 points per possession — and by pounding the offensive glass for putbacks or to extend possessions.
Generally speaking, the positives of having Lopez on the floor far outweigh the potential negatives of him getting roasted in space in the wrong matchup. Should Milwaukee run into one of those matchups, though, Bud can either turn to Bobby Portis alongside Antetokounmpo (a look that has
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