Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat Pick & Prediction APRIL 5th 2025
Preview and Prediction
Two rival teams battling for a spot in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference will clash on Saturday as the Milwaukee Bucks take on the Miami Heat on their home court.
The Bucks (42-34) are coming off a thrilling 126-113 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, marking their second consecutive win after a four-game losing streak.
The win was largely thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo's impressive performance, where he recorded 35 points, 20 assists, and 17 rebounds. This was the first time in NBA history that a player achieved such a stat line.
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Antetokounmpo's 20 assists also set a new career-high for him. Bucks associate head coach Darvin Ham, who took over for an ailing Doc Rivers in the first half, praised Antetokounmpo for stepping up as the team's lead playmaker.
"All the great players in this league make their teammates better," Ham said. "That's something he has to do until we have Damian Lillard back. He needs to be the leader of our team and create opportunities for others."
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Bucks are hopeful that Lillard will be able to return to the court in 7-10 days. Bobby Portis will serve the last two games of his suspension this weekend and Jericho Sims is still out with a thumb injury.
The Miami Heat (35-42) are coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, where Ja Morant hit a buzzer-beater to secure a 110-108 victory.
Despite the tough loss, head coach Erik Spoelstra remains optimistic about his team's performance. The Heat had won six consecutive games before the loss to the Grizzlies.
"We're becoming a very tough team," Spoelstra said. "Three weeks ago, on the second night of a back-to-back, we probably would have lost by double digits. We're not going anywhere, our execution is improving."
Miami was missing several key players in their last game, including Terry Rozier (illness), Kevin Love (personal), Nikola Jovic (hand), and Andrew Wiggins (hamstring). Love, Jovic, and Wiggins will all be out for Saturday's game, while Rozier is expected to play.
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Tyler Herro (right thigh) and Haywood Highsmith (left Achilles) are listed as questionable for the Heat.
Herro, who led the team with 35 points on Thursday, is currently averaging 23.9 points and 5.6 assists per game. Bam Adebayo leads the Heat with 9.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
On the other hand, Antetokounmpo leads the Bucks with an average of 30.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. In the seven games that Lillard has been out with an injury, Antetokounmpo has been averaging 7.9 assists per game.
The Bucks will be looking to complete a four-game sweep against the Heat, having won the first three games with final scores of 106-103, 125-96, and 120-113.
In their last matchup on February 23, Herro had an outstanding performance with 40 points, while Adebayo and Wiggins scored 24 and 20 points respectively. However, the Heat only managed to score 12 points off the bench. Lillard led the Bucks with 28 points and eight assists, while Antetokounmpo added 23 points and 16 rebounds.
When the Heat win, it is usually due to their strong defensive efforts. They currently rank fourth in the league with a defensive rating of 104.3 in their victories, and 10th overall for the season (112.1). The Bucks are just behind the Heat in defensive rating (112.8), but have a much better offensive rating (114.7).
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat Recap APR 5TH 2025
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points and Kevin Porter Jr. added 24 to help the Milwaukee Bucks win an overtime battle against the host Miami Heat 121-115 on Saturday night.
Antetokounmpo had a triple-double for Milwaukee (43-34), which won its third in a row, with 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Porter finished with 12 rebounds and eight assists.
Miami (35-42) lost its second straight game after winning six in a row. Bam Adebayo led with 31 points and 12 rebounds, while Alec Burks added 24 points.
Miami gained the early edge as Adebayo dominated the first. The big man scored half of Miami's points in the quarter as the Heat took a 30-22 lead into the second.
The Bucks got a boost with 20 points from their bench in the second. Milwaukee took a slim lead and eventually went into halftime tied at 57.
The game remained tightly contested throughout the second half. Miami took a lead as high as six with 4:30 to play thanks to a 7-0 run, but that was the largest margin from that point on.
Antetokounmpo had an open look from mid-range that would have given Milwaukee the lead with less than a second to play, but it rimmed out and Adebayo didn't get a shot off with just 0.7 seconds on the clock at the end of regulation.
In overtime, the back-and-forth nature of this one continued. Ultimately, Porter and Antetokounmpo came through for the Bucks.
Porter tied the game at 115 with a layup and dished it to Antetokounmpo on a dunk that gave Milwaukee the lead. Then, with 11 seconds to go, Porter's tough layup in traffic put the game away.
There were 12 lead changes and 15 ties in the game.
Milwaukee won its fourth in a row over Miami and completed the four-game season series sweep. It is the first time the Bucks have swept the series in 10 seasons.