Jimmy Butler punished the Milwaukee Bucks when the Miami Heat met them in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals. Now, ahead of their rematch in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs, the Cream City squad believes they are more than ready for him.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer knows it will be a huge challenge stopping Butler from scoring. However, he is confident their defense is equipped with the necessary tools and talents to make life hard for the Heat veteran. In fact, he claimed everybody on the Bucks now can guard the 31-year-old now when needed.

“With the way the roster’s been constructed, I think the way we’ve grown defensively, I would phrase it as everybody’s going to guard Jimmy Butler,” the Bucks coach said Thursday, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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For what it's worth, it looks like Butler is expecting the Bucks to throw the kitchen sink at him when they start playing on Saturday. The Heat star is “stupidly locked in” and is not looking at their past match-up as he focuses on the task ahead of him.

“I guarantee that they still got a scout for me, whether I played or not,” Butler said of the Bucks. “I’m ready for anything. You leave the past in the past, all the wins, all the losses, all the mishaps, all the great fortunes. It’s a different time of the year right now. You’re supposed to be playing your best basketball, be healthy. And first one to 16 wins, so we’ve got start with the first four.”

The Heat-Bucks match-up is definitely one of the most highly anticipated series of the first round. After all, here we got to powerhouse and well-coached teams who could very well make a deep playoff run, but one will need to pack their bags early after a week or two.

It's up to Butler to lead the Heat to the NBA Finals once again and get the job done this time, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks surely want this season to be their year.