The Milwaukee Bucks struggled a bit against the Paul Millsap-less Atlanta Hawks, but in the end Milwaukee got the victory at home.
Contrary to very popular belief, the Milwaukee Bucks are not the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference after taking down the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. Although it is true that the win ties the Bucks with the Hawks in record, it did not affect playoff seeding immediately.
That’s because the first tiebreaker in conference standings is head-to-head record. Atlanta beat the Bucks three straight times this season before the Milwaukee victory on Friday, meaning the Hawks keep the fifth seed.
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Still, this was a huge win for the Bucks, who are now very close to taking that fifth seed. The Hawks play the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday in a game they’ll likely win, whereas the Bucks next game is against the Chicago Bulls, and that’s also on Sunday. If both teams win they’ll hold in the standings, while potentially gaining ground on the other Eastern Conference playoff contenders.
Milwaukee’s win over Atlanta was definitely important for playoff seeding purposes, but how did it happen? In a game where more Bucks scored under ten points than over ten points, Milwaukee managed to scrap together a victory.
To get a better idea of the action on Friday, we’ll look through four major takeaways from the action. There are lots of lessons that can be learned from each and every game, but these four stand out as especially noteworthy.