© Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks will play the Miami Heat in the first round of playoffs
It’s the Milwaukee Bucks versus the Miami Heat in the first round of playoffs.
The Milwaukee-Miami best-of-seven affair was sealed after the Heat prevailed over the Chicago Bulls in their do-or-die play-in match on Friday night, 102-91.
The Bucks have the home-court advantage against the Heat. Game 1 will be on April 16th at the Fiserv Forum.
Head-to-head duels
Milwaukee and Miami split their four-game regular season series 2-2.
The Heat won the first two duels, 108-102 and 111-95. The Bucks returned the favor when they took the next two battles, 123-115 and 128-99.
Miami finished the regular season with 44 wins and 38 losses, good for eighth place. On the other side, the Bucks took a much-needed respite after emerging as the overall top seed after finishing the regular season with an NBA-best 58-24 record.
Being the overall top seed, the Bucks will have the home-court edge in all of the series that they will be playing.
Contrasting routes to the playoffs
While the Bucks were able to take a short rest and, at the same time, fine-tune their arsenals, the Heat had to go through two grueling matches before earning a seat in the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
Miami failed to take the shorter route to the playoffs when they faltered at home against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the play-in on Tuesday night, 116-105.
The Bulls earned the right to face the Heat when they stunned the Toronto Raptors in their sudden-death duel on Wednesday night, 109-105.
In the do-or-die match against the Bulls, the Heat had to storm back from an 80-85 deficit in the final five minutes to salvage the win. Jimmy Butler and Max Strus both scored 31 points to lead the Heat.
