Charles Barkley Makes Bold Claim Regarding Bucks-Heat Playoff Series
Two major injuries happened in Game 1 between the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks, a game in which the Heat won 130-117.
The first injury was to Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, as he exited the game early on after he fell hard on his lower back. Antetokounmpo did not play in Game 2 on Wednesday night as a result.
The second injury that happened in Game 1 was to Heat guard Tyler Herro, who suffered a broken right hand diving for a loose ball on the ground. Herro did not play in Game 2 on Wednesday night either and is out for the remainder of the series.
With both Giannis and Herro out in Game 2, the Bucks were able to bounce-back and get past the Heat 138-122, resulting in Charles Barkley to talk about the impact of both players being out and making a bold claim on TNT's Inside The NBA.
"I think [Tyler] Herro, not going forward, but in this series, I think Herro is a bigger loss than Giannis [Antetokounmpo]," Barkley said as the rest of the crew blankly starred at him. "What I am saying is for this series, Milwaukee got a much better chance of beating Miami without Giannis than Miami going to beat them without Herro is my question."
As crazy as it may sound to say that losing Tyler Herro is a bigger deal than not having Giannis Antetokounmpo, Chuck is not totally wrong here with what he is trying to say.
Obviously there may not be a better overall player in the NBA than Giannis, but the Bucks have plenty of other weapons like Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and others who can step up in a seven-game series against the 8-seeded Miami Heat.
On the other side of things, the Heat have really struggled offensively this season and other than Jimmy Butler, their night-to-night production is a major question mark. Losing Tyler Herro is significant for the Heat, especially since he accounted for close to 15 percent of their total scoring output this season.
"I'm not comparing them as players, I am talking about in this series," Barkley went on to explain. "If Miami had Herro and the Bucks didn't have Giannis, they could win. They can't win without Herro, but Milwaukee can beat them without Giannis is my point."
Look, it sounds crazy, but this is far the craziest thing Charles Barkley has ever said!
Miami losing Tyler Herro in this series alone is a much bigger deal than the Bucks losing Giannis Antetokounmpo in this series simply because Milwaukee is the better overall team on both ends of the floor.
The Bucks showed what their offense was capable of doing in Game 2 when they scored 138 points on 25-49 shooting from three-point range and they did not even have Giannis in this game, who averaged over 30 points per game during the regular season!
The Heat are going to have a hard time replicating Tyler Herro's production and without him, they may very well lose in this series in five games.
With the series even at 1-1 heading to Miami, Game 3 between the Heat and Bucks will take place in South Beach on Saturday, April 22.
Be sure to catch up on the newest episode of The Fast Break Podcast hosted by Fastbreak's own Brett Siegel!
Streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, The Fast Break Podcast takes you inside the league with the latest news, intel, rumors and interviews from those close to the action for all 30 teams. Be on the lookout for a new episodes every Friday.
