The Milwaukee Bucks have a brand new challenge this year.
Defending their title.
For the first time in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s career, he and his Bucks teammates will not be the hunters, but the hunted.
We saw evidence on Thursday night, as a short-handed Bucks team was thrashed by the Heat in South Beach.
Miami poured it on to the tune of a 42-point victory.
Some extra motivation certainly existed from the Heat to not only take out the defending NBA champs, but to send a message to the team that swept them out of the playoffs in the first round.
The Bucks are going to be just fine, and injuries played a major role in what happened on Thursday night.
That being said, the mentality seen by Miami isn’t going to be a one-off occurrence.
The Bucks are going to get every team’s best effort all season long.
It’s going to feel like The Finals every time Giannis and company roll into a road city.
It’s really hard to win back-to-back NBA titles.
The Bucks certainly have the talent to pull it off.
But, it’s safe to say that deer hunting season has begun for the rest of the NBA.