Milwaukee, Wisconsin - The Milwaukee Bucks have made it to the NBA playoffs for another run at the finals, but standing in their way in the first round are the Miami Heat, last year’s Eastern Conference champions.

Both of these teams square up with a lot to prove. The Bucks come into the first round led by Giannis Antetokounmpo (26) and a sense of grievance after they were knocked out of the second round in last year’s playoffs by the Heat. "Obviously everybody on the team has a little bit of extra motivation," Giannis said in an interview with ESPN.

Miami is looking for history to repeat itself and they look like the one team out of the East that can't be underestimated. Many are calling this particular series to go six or the full seven games, with either team having a real chance to take the series.

Antetokounmpo spent much of the regular season playing very well but has been constantly haunted by the specter of past playoff failures. The Bucks haven’t had a complete team around the two-time reigning MVP to get over the proverbial hump and get the chance to play for a championship.

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The Heat on the other hand got hot early when the NBA’s Covid-19 Bubble was created last year, running right into the playoffs and stayed hot all the way to the finals. They ended up falling in six games to the Lakers in the finals. Jimmy Butler and three-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala plan to take the Heat far again this year, with their sights set firmly on the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Miami finished the regular season in the sixth seed, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that it makes them the underdogs to the number three seed Bucks.

The Bucks took two out of three from the Heat, in the regular season, with their biggest win being a huge 144-97 win back on December 29. That was a game that saw Milwaukee setting the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a game – a whopping 44 in total.

The Heat is certainly hoping that this particular piece of history won't be repeating itself.

Game one in their Eastern Conference playoff series gets underway on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.