Two teams fighting for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference face off on Saturday as the Milwaukee Bucks take on the host Miami Heat.
The Bucks (42-34) come in off a thrilling 126-113 comeback victory in Philadelphia on Thursday, their second win in a row after four straight losses.
They did so thanks in large part to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 35-point, 20-assist, 17-rebound effort — the first time in NBA history someone achieved that stat line.
The 20 assists also served as a career-high for Antetokounmpo. Bucks associate head coach Darvin Ham, who took over for an ailing Doc Rivers late in the first half on Thursday, spoke on him stepping up as the lead playmaker.
“All the great guys that have come through this league, they make the people around them great as well,” Ham said. “That’s something he has to do until we get (Damian Lillard) back. He’s got to be the leader of our team in terms of making plays.”
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Bucks are hopeful Lillard can return to basketball activities in 7-10 days. Bobby Portis (suspension) serves his final two games this weekend before returning on Tuesday while Jericho Sims (thumb) remains out.
Miami (35-42) comes in off a heartbreaking home loss Thursday night as Ja Morant beat the buzzer to give Memphis a 110-108 victory.
Despite the tough loss, head coach Erik Spoelstra shared some optimism about what he’s seeing from his team that had won six consecutive games prior to that loss.
“We’re becoming a very tough team,” Spoelstra said. “Three weeks ago on the second night of a back-to-back probably would have been a double-digit game. We’re not going anywhere, our execution is getting better.”
On the injury front, Miami was short-handed against Memphis as it played without Terry Rozier (illness), Kevin Love (personal), Nikola Jovic (hand) and Andrew Wiggins (hamstring). Love, Jovic and Wiggins will miss Saturday’s game while Rozier will be available.
Tyler Herro (right thigh) and Haywood Highsmith (left Achilles) are listed as questionable.
Herro, who led Miami with 35 points Thursday, leads the Heat with 23.9 points and 5.6 assists per game. Bam Adebayo paces the Heat with 9.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per night.
Antetokounmpo averages 30.4 points and 11.9 rebounds for Milwaukee. During the seven games he has played during Lillard’s current injury, Antetokounmpo has averaged 7.9 assists per game.
Milwaukee is going for the four-game season sweep as they’ve taken the first three by finals of 106-103, 125-96 and 120-113.
In the Feb. 23 matchup in Milwaukee, Herro shined with 40 points while Adebayo scored 24 and Andrew Wiggins scored 20, but the Heat got just 12 bench points. Lillard led Milwaukee with 28 points and eight assists while Antetokounmpo added 23 points and 16 rebounds.
When Miami wins, it wins on the defensive end. They rank fourth in the league with a 104.3 defensive rating in victories and stands 10th (112.1) on the season overall. Milwaukee is just behind the Heat in defensive rating (112.8), but well ahead offensively (114.7).
