Milwaukee Bucks: Key Player Matchups in Potential First Round Playoff Meetings

With the playoff picture taking shape, which individual matchups could decide the Milwaukee Bucks’ first round playoff series?

With their hard-fought win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, the Milwaukee Bucks will reach the postseason for first time since the 2014-2015 season.

However, this team is much different from the one that lost to the Bulls in six games. No longer led by crafty veterans and wide-eyed youngsters, this Bucks squad poses a more serious threat.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a legitimate superstar, and might be the second most talented player in the Eastern Conference. Since LeBron James currently sits in the first seed, and it’s increasingly unlikely the Bucks fall to the eighth seed, this means there’s a very good chance that Giannis will be the best player on the floor, or at least an equal to the opponent’s best player, in any first round matchup.

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With just two games remaining, the Bucks will likely end up in the fifth or sixth seed, barring epic collapse. The Pacers and Bulls hold the seventh and eighth seeds, and are one and two games behind the Bucks, respectively.

However, the Bucks own the tiebreaker with each of these teams. Winning just one more game would clinch the sixth seed, and match them up against either the Toronto Raptors or Washington Wizards.

In an attempt to find which team the Bucks match up best against, I’ll be identifying three key player matchups for both of these teams, and what the Bucks need to do if they want to win their first playoff series since 2001.