The Bucks have to win Monday night. Already down 2-1 to a Heat team living up to its playoff promise, Milwaukee can’t go down 3-1 and expect to advance against a Miami team this dangerous.
Which is why it’s good news Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to return to play in Game 4, according to multiple reports. Antetokounmpo went through shootaround with the team Monday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is out on the floor at today’s shootaround. pic.twitter.com/CTqpG8ZrhF
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 24, 2023
Antetokounmpo injured his back in a nasty fall in Game 1 of this series and sat out the next two games with a back contusion. It reportedly was a matter of pain tolerance with this injury, not a structural injury that slowed him.
The Bucks hit 25 3-pointers in Game 2 and won without him, but dropped Game 3 in Miami. The Heat are not the usual cake 1-8 first round series matchup, with playoff Jimmy Butler in form, Bam Adebayo as a defender and role players who can hit shots (even if they didn’t do it consistently for the first 82 games), they are a threat. The Bucks need Antetokounmpo to win this series.
And they need to win Game 4 — especially on defense. Milwaukee’s top-four defense in the regular season has looked lost trying to slow Miami in this series.
Butler, who suffered a bruised glute, also is expected to go in Game 4.
