A Heat-Bucks playoff rematch, but with a ‘totally different’ feel. What has changed?

As the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks prepare to meet in a playoff series for the second time in less than nine months, the Heat knows some things have changed since the teams’ postseason matchup last year in the Walt Disney World bubble.

“Totally different. The year is different. Both teams are different,” coach Erik Spoelstra said following Sunday night’s road victory over the Detroit Pistons to close the regular season. “There’s plenty of time to discuss that series. It’s just a totally new challenge.”

Takeaways from Heat’s regular-season finale and a look ahead at playoff matchup vs. Bucks

But despite different circumstances and a few changes to each roster, the Heat hopes the result is the same this season. The then-fifth-seeded Heat eliminated the then-top-seeded Bucks in a 4-1 second-round upset on its way to the NBA Finals last year.

This year, the sixth-seeded Heat (40-32) will take on the third-seeded Bucks (46-26) in the first round of the playoffs. The best-of-7 series will begin either Saturday or Sunday at Fiserv Forum, with the schedule yet to be released.

“They’re a really good team, obviously. They’re much different than last year,” Heat second-year guard Tyler Herro said of the Bucks. “They added a bunch of guys with Jrue [Holiday] and Bobby Portis and some guys off the bench. So it’s going to be a great series. I feel like two great teams in the Eastern Conference going at it.”

At the surface, the Bucks don’t seem as dominant as they were last season when they entered the playoffs with the NBA’s top record and net rating.

The Bucks enter the playoffs this season with the league’s seventh-best record and fourth-best net rating.

While the numbers might not be as overwhelming as last season’s, the Bucks’ roster seems better suited for the playoffs this season after adding Holiday, Portis and reserve guard Bryn Forbes in free agency last offseason and trading for veteran three-and-D specialist P.J. Tucker in March.

Holiday is one of the NBA’s top two-way guards. He’s known as one of the league’s best perimeter defenders and gives the Bucks another efficient scoring option alongside two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and two-time All-Star Khris Middleton.

Portis has been a big part of the Bucks’ bench rotation, shooting an eye-opening 47.1 percent on 2.4 three-point attempts per game. Forbes has also given Milwaukee shooting off the bench, making 45.2 percent of his 4.9 three-point attempts per game.

There will be some who pick the Heat to win this year’s series because of what happened last season, when Miami solved Milwaukee’s elite protect-the-paint-at-all-costs defense by simply shooting over it with threes and non-rim paint shots.

The Heat averaged 15 made threes per game on 37.3 percent shooting from deep in last year’s series against the Bucks, which gave up the most three-point attempts last season and third-most three-point attempts this regular season as they focus on protecting the paint. Miami also shot an efficient 49.3 percent on non-rim paint shots against Milwaukee last postseason, finding an in-between soft spot in the Bucks’ defense.

Three-point shooting and those non-rim paint opportunities will again be important for the Heat in this season’s playoff matchup against the Bucks.

“They did change a little bit defensively,” Heat forward Duncan Robinson said of Milwaukee. “They have more guys and they got a presence on the ball. But that’s their system. They pack the paint. I think last year was the same thing. They give you a lot of threes.”

The Heat uses a similar defensive approach, sending extra defenders into the paint to limit shots around the rim.

That style will again be tested by the relentless attacking of Antetokounmpo, who averaged the second-most paint points this season at 16.7 per game. And three-point shooting will also be important for the Bucks in this season’s series to soften the Heat’s defense.

So much is the same as last year. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are still the Heat’s two best players and Antetokounmpo and Middleton are still the Bucks’ top two scorers.

But so much is different, as well.

The Bucks will have a real home-court advantage this season as the higher seed, despite limited attendance in arenas because of the COVID-19 pandemic, after playing last year’s playoff series against the Heat at a neutral site in the bubble.

The first two games will be played in Milwaukee before the series moves to Miami for Games 3 and 4. If necessary, Games 5 and 7 will be played at Fiserv Forum and Game 6 will take place at AmericanAirlines Arena.

And, of course, forward Jae Crowder is no longer on the Heat’s roster. Crowder proved to be very valuable during last year’s series against the Bucks, as he shot 43.1 percent on 10.2 three-point attempts per game and also served as Antetokounmpo’s primary defender in the second-round matchup before leaving to sign with the Phoenix Suns in free agency last offseason.

In addition, the Bucks actually won the regular-season series over the Heat 2-1 this season. Miami won last year’s regular-season series between the two teams 2-1.

But Butler did not play in any of the Heat’s three games against the Bucks this season because of injuries, so little can be taken from the teams’ regular-season matchups. Miami is 7-13 this season in games that Butler has missed and 33-19 when he has played.

Also, two of the Heat’s three games against the Bucks this season came in late December. Miami has improved since then, bouncing back from a 7-14 start and closing the regular season season by winning 12 of its final 16 games.

“I think just in general there was a lot of growth,” Robinson said of the Heat’s season. “Learning how to deal with people in and out of the lineup, the challenges of protocols, the challenges that come with guys missing games because of protocols and all sort of stuff. In terms of classifying it, I think we progressed, I think we got better and I think we learned more about each other and also really started to establish our identity.

“When we’re at our best version, we’re making it difficult on teams, we’re protecting the paint, we’re flying around with multiple efforts on defense and we’re being disruptive on that end and getting out and sharing the ball and scoring. So when we play like that, we can be tough to beat.”

The top-six playoff seeds in the East are the No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers, No. 2 Brooklyn Nets, No. 3 Bucks, No. 4 New York Knicks, No. 5 Atlanta Hawks and No. 6 Heat. A play-in tournament that begins Tuesday between the No. 7 Boston Celtics, No. 8 Washington Wizards, No. 9 Indiana Pacers and No. 10 Charlotte Hornets will determine the final two seeds in the conference.

By finishing the regular season in sixth place, the Heat’s path back to the NBA Finals could include the top three teams in the East. The winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 series faces the winner of the No. 2 vs. No. 7 series, with the top-seeded 76ers on the other side of the bracket as a potential opponent in the East finals.

But Heat coaches and players are only focused on the challenge currently in front of them. With at least a five-day break between Sunday’s regular-season finale and Miami’s first playoff game this weekend, the Heat took Monday “completely off” before beginning on-court preparations for its series against the Bucks.

“Once we reconvene, then this is going to take the majority of everybody’s focus,” Spoelstra said.