Road Warriors
The Bucks’ season was almost certainly done just over a month ago. After a promising start to the year, Milwaukee had sleep-walked through January and early February as the wheels effectively came off.
The East was still wide open making it theoretically possible for the Bucks to turn things around, but any honest assessment would always have ended in them likely getting in their own way.
With a road-heavy schedule and a dreaded West coast road trip remaining, how was a young, learning team ever going to do enough to come back from an almost assured lottery spot?
To fully get to the bottom of the how would take some further digging that we’ll leave for another day, but the Bucks found a way. I didn’t know they could play so resiliently, professionally and consistently at this stage in their development. I’m not sure the players would even have known that about themselves.
Now as the Bucks look destined to fight their way into a fifth or sixth spot for the postseason, they have their form away from Milwaukee to thank. When a team starts to win with minimal fuss against quality opponents on the road as the Bucks have, it’s probably time to start taking them seriously.
To put into context just how good the Bucks have been away from home of late, they share the best road record in the NBA post All-Star Break with the Portland Trail Blazers at 7-3.
It’s not long ago that the Bucks’ road-heavy schedule was being placed as a knock against their playoff chances, but with four of their last seven still set to come on the road, they no longer have anything to fear.