SR – NBA Bubble Breakdowns #2: Milwaukee Bucks

At #2 on our SneakerReporter Bubble Breakdown is the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks have made trips to the Playoffs every year since 2016, and currently continues to this day, heading into the NBA Restart withholding the best record league wide going 53-12. The 2019 NBA MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo has been on a tear all season long through 57 games, average 29.6ppg, 13.7rpg, and 5.8apg.

Luckily for the organization, the entirety of the Bucks roster opted into the NBA Bubble which fully allows them to maintain their play style. Just by looking at them, it is very much apparent that the Bucks are big. There are many guys on this roster that are big with long arms with Giannis at the forefront of it all.

Despite being the 1st seeded team in the East, there are many individuals who are skeptical of the Bucks due to the past Playoff experiences, particularly last year where they made an exit in the Eastern Conference Finals against Kawhi Leonard and the 2019 NBA Champions, Toronto Raptors. Having said that, however, there’s much potential for things to be different this time.

Bucks’ Season In-Review: (53-12, 1st in East)

As discussed earlier, we talked about how having the full Bucks roster unlocks them to playing the way they want to play. With Giannis averaging more than he did last season, he alone is capable to contributing to the their wins in a multitude of ways through his scoring and also kicking out to the many shooters they have waiting on the outside ready to fire the 3, from George Hill, the Lopez twins, and Khris Middleton. Speaking on Middleton, he too has been averaging more than last season, a point where many people criticized him for not being able to contribute as much as we thought he could in the postseason. However this does not lie on Middleton’s shoulders alone, the entire Bucks offense needs to be capable of getting their own shots off the dribble rather than waiting for a shot on the three point line.

Looking Into the Bubble:

The Bucks need to ensure that they can consistently operate on offense, especially if Giannis isn’t having the game the we as fans expect him to have. They’re very much capable of shutting down teams offensively and getting out in transition, which is exactly where the Bucks want to be. The Bucks schedule, objectively, isn’t necessarily the hardest one out of all the teams but also does not imply that it’s a walk in the park either. The biggest competition that the Bucks may face in the Restart is facing off against Boston, Miami, Dallas, and Toronto. However, statistically, the Bucks should be capable of walking away from this schedule with a solid amount of wins, ultimately preparing for the NBA Playoffs.