Getty Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton.
The Miami Heat will open their third playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks in four seasons on Sunday afternoon. Each team has won once, with the Heat sending the Bucks home in the 2020 bubble, and then Milwaukee sweeping Miami a year later.
Bucks forward Khris Middleton took part in both of those series. He took some time to praise his team’s first-round opponents ahead of Sunday’s Game 1 at Fiserv Forum, name-dropping Jimmy Butler in the process.
“Their style of play is that you know they’re physical,” he said via Bally Sports Wisconsin. “They’re going to play a grind it out style of basketball. Then you know if it’s a close game you can expect Jimmy [Butler], Bam [Adebayo], Tyler Herro all of those guys to put their foot down and be physical, like I said. But also they have another notch that they go to at the end of games, like we saw with Chicago [Bulls] the other night. They’re a tough team, they’ve always been down to pass and I don’t think that’s going to change.”
Middleton later circled back to the Heat’s playoff prowess, pointing Miami’s recent success as reasoning for taking them seriously, despite lower seeding.
“Like I said they’re a tough team. I don’t think at this point in the season you can look at one seeds, eight seeds, ten seeds, whoever made it in, everybody’s in the playoffs for a reason right now because they’re a talented group. They have special players, they’re a special team. So credit their history. We know what they’re about. Even though they’re in the Play-In Game we still got the ultimate respect for them, that they’re a contender, they are a playoff team.”
“It doesn’t matter that we got the one seed. Miami’s a good team. They’re tough.”
Jrue Holiday and the #Bucks are focused on Miami. #FearTheDeer
Bucks’ Jrue Holiday Respects Heat Regardless of Seeding
Though Miami is entering the postseason as a lower seed this season, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday still has respect for the Heat.
Holiday explained that Milwaukee can’t take Miami lightly, regardless of where they finished the season in the standings.
“I feel like one through eight there’s always a chance,” Holiday said in the same clip. “It doesn’t matter that we got the one seed. Miami’s a good team. They’re tough. We know how they play. They play hard, they’re physical, they’re never gonna give up. So, I think at any point in any series, East or West, anything can happen. So we gotta be the one’s who are the hungrier team, the more competitive team.”
Jimmy Butler Believes Bam Adebayo Can Will Heat to Wins
After Friday’s win over Chicago, Butler shouted out Bam Adebayo, who willed the Heat to the finish despite a 1-of-9 shooting performance, claiming the big man’s effort can earn the team wins against the Bucks.
“The reason I really loved Bam tonight is because even though you don’t make shots you can affect the game in so many ways,” he said via Brendan Tobin. “And that right there is the definition of a star player, a superstar, All-Star, whatever you want to put on to it. But, 17 rebounds, he had one block, but it was the best defensive play of the entire game. When you lock in on the defensive end like that, that’s the part that gets everybody excited, gets everybody doing the right thing. I hope he makes every shot on Sunday but if he doesn’t and he has another game like this, it’s going to be the reason that we win.”
Jimmy Butler: I love Bam tonight is because even though you don’t make shots you can affect the game in so many ways. That is the definition of a star player…I hope he makes every shot on Sunday but if he doesn’t and he has another game like this, it’ll be the reason we win