TheLand13 wrote:No, it's a fundamentally flawed argument to use that as a reason to discredit what Miami was able to do against Milwaukee in a scenario where neither team had a crowd to work off of. It was very clear throughout the season that Miami was an insanely tough matchup for Milwaukee, as evidenced by the fact that on both occasions where they met with fans, Miami came out on top. In fact, the only times in that entire season that Milwaukee managed to beat Miami was when they were in the bubble. I can absolutely buy into the idea that HCA would've changed the outcome in a series like Den/LA for example. But to claim it would have mattered in a series in which Miami was on their way to sweeping Milwaukee until Giannis got injured and the Bucks were able to play a more well balanced and dynamic offense as a result? It sounds to me like you not only need to do a bit of research yourself, but you need to actually go watch those games and realize what Miami did to beat Milwaukee in the first place. The whole "they were built for the bubble argument" is laughable nonsense. They were just a matchup nightmare for Milwaukee, and Giannis can't get over that fact.
GA just did put up 28/17/5/2/1 against them with a great fourth quarter. Last playoff series he was at 23.5/15.0/7.8. In general, they do hold him down in terms of his scoring/efficiency numbers better than most teams, but he is learning how to pass out of the double/triple teams against them.
In regard to the bubble, meh, they beat us. The Bucks had Eric Bledsoe and they completely lost the HCA they had earned with a dominant regular season. We saw what happened last playoffs with Jrue holiday + the Bucks homecourt.
Now, I do think it will be tougher for the Bucks this season. Miami has improved and will likely have homecourt. A lot will depend on whether Lopez is back and how effective he is. He matches up extremely well against Miami because he can lay off Bam on defense and pull him out of the paint on offense, while also limiting the Heat's paint points. I do think Miami will struggle more in the playoffs than regular season though, having two starters that teams can pack the paint against (Bam, Butler) hurts a halfcourt offense.
