The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off an embarrassing loss, will visit the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.
Miami may be without star Jimmy Butler, who is doubtful with a sprained right ankle.
Milwaukee, which has been the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in each of the past two seasons, lost in blowout fashion to the New York Knicks on Sunday night, 130-110.
Bucks stars Giannis Antetokounmpo (27 points, 13 rebounds) and Khris Middleton (22 points) were productive against the Knicks, but it wasn’t enough as New York shot 54.1 percent from the floor and made 16-of-27 3-pointers (59.3 percent).
“We all know we have to be better,” Bucks forward Bobby Portis said after losing to the Knicks, who have not made the playoffs since 2013.
The Bucks, now with two losses in their first three games, would love to get back on track against the Heat, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season with a five-game upset in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Miami’s issue on Tuesday figures to be the status of Butler’s right ankle. Butler missed the second half of Miami’s home-opening win against the New Orleans Pelicans, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra announced Monday afternoon that his star forward is doubtful for the Bucks.
“We’ll continue to get him treatment,” Spoelstra said. “Each situation is different. You want to treat each injury with the most intelligent response.”
Butler is averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds — numbers that have been held down due to the injury. Still, he leads the team in steals (4.0) and is second in assists (6.0).
If Butler is unable to play, there will be more of a focus on Bam Adebayo, who leads the team in scoring (21.0) and rebounds (7.5).
But the Heat also have several other ways of beating teams, a list that includes the long-range shooting of Duncan Robinson (52.6 percent on 3-pointers), Meyers Leonard (60.0 percent) and Tyler Herro (off to a slow start at 33.3 percent).
Defensively, the Heat added Avery Bradley to the team this season, and he has already made an impact with his relentless pressure. Butler and Adebayo also factor in Miami’s defense in a significant way.
Finally, there’s the Heat bench, a mostly veteran group led by point guard Goran Dragic, who is second on the team in scoring (19.0) and tops in assists (8.0). Bradley, Andre Iguodala and rookie Precious Achiuwa (9.5 scoring average) are other key members of Miami’s bench brigade.
Milwaukee’s reserves are led by Portis, who is averaging 10.0 points and 7.7 rebounds, rookie Jordan Nwora (8.0 scoring average) and D.J. Augustin (7.5 points).
Augustin, who was with the Orlando Magic the past four years, is one of Milwaukee’s biggest offseason additions. The Bucks also added Jrue Holiday, who spent the past seven years with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Holiday is averaging 15.9 points and 6.4 assists for his career. This season, he is averaging 15.0 points and 4.7 assists as he makes the adjustment to playing with the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo, the two-time reigning MVP of the league, is averaging 25.7 points and 13.0 rebounds. He has made four straight All-Star teams and is the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Middleton, an All-Star in each of the past two years, is leading Milwaukee in scoring (26.7) and assists (6.0).
The key for the Bucks, however, will be getting more secondary scoring beyond their two stars while also doing a much better job on defense.
