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Milwaukee Bucks: 49 years in 49 days – 2000-01 season

ByTi Windisch|
PHILADELPHIA, : The Milwaukee Bucks' guard Ray Allen (L) works his way around the Philadelphia 76ers' center Dikembe Mutombo (C) and guard Allen Iverson (R), in the 2nd quarter of their game 26 February 2001 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. Mutombo, who was acquired in a trade last week, had a total of 10 rebounds in the first half of the game. PA AFP PHOTO/ TOM MIHALEK (Photo credit should read TOM MIHALEK/AFP/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, : The Milwaukee Bucks' guard Ray Allen (L) works his way around the Philadelphia 76ers' center Dikembe Mutombo (C) and guard Allen Iverson (R), in the 2nd quarter of their game 26 February 2001 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. Mutombo, who was acquired in a trade last week, had a total of 10 rebounds in the first half of the game. PA AFP PHOTO/ TOM MIHALEK (Photo credit should read TOM MIHALEK/AFP/Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Bucks peaked in the 2000-01 season with a thrilling trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The season: 2000-2001

The record: 52-30

The postseason: 10-8, lost in Conference Finals

The story:

The Milwaukee Bucks 2000-01 season culminated with a legendary showdown against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. They got there through the fantastic play of a few players surrounded by a constantly-rotating cast.

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Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell all started at least 74 games. No other Buck that season started more than 45 games. Seven Bucks started ten or more games, despite five of those players appearing in more than 62 games.

George Karl was dealing with a lot of moving parts, to put it lightly. Even without much consistency, Milwaukee’s offense was red-hot. The Bucks led the NBA in offensive rating, were second in points per game and 10th in pace. Unsurprisingly, the offensive attack was led by Milwaukee’s big three.

Ray Allen played in all 82 games yet again, and put up 22.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The super-efficient scorer knocked down 48.0 percent of his shots from the field and 43.3 percent of his attempts from deep.

Glenn Robinson also scored 22.0 points per game, although he did miss a few games, meaning Allen scored more total points. Big Dog did plenty, though, adding 6.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game in addition to his points.

Sam Cassell couldn’t keep dishing nine assists per game, but he did put up 18.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.2 steals per contest. His scoring efficiency also increased from the season before, moderately.

After the big three came a motley crew of moving parts. Mark Pope, Jason Caffey, Scott Williams, Ervin Johnson, Tim Thomas, Darvin Ham and Joel Przybilla all started 13 or more games, with Pope leading the group with 45 starts. Michael Redd was on the Bucks at this point too, although as a 21-year-old rookie he barely played.

That group, plus the big three, had a record that was 10 games better than Milwaukee was the season before. The 52 wins the Bucks put up was the most Milwaukee managed since the 1985-86 season.

Coincidentally, those teams would also peak at the same place. The Bucks matched up with the Orlando Magic in the first round. Milwaukee, as the second seed in the East, finally had homecourt advantage in the postseason.

The Magic had a young Tracy McGrady, but there wasn’t much talent left around T-Mac. Allen and Robinson could surely relate to McGrady as the Bucks overwhelmed his Magic with their superior number of stars and won the series in four games, despite T-Mac leading the series in scoring.

Next up was a fun Charlotte Hornets team that had swept the Miami Heat in the first round. The Bucks and Hornets matched up well, leading to an exciting seven-game series that saw Allen and Big Dog matching up with Jamal Mashburn and David Wesley.

Mashburn and Wesley may not have gone down as historically great talents, but they gave Milwaukee everything the team could handle. The two teams’ best players dueled through the first four games of the series, with Allen leading both teams in scoring through the first two games, which were both Bucks wins at home, followed by the opposite happening in Charlotte games the Hornets won while Mashburn led in scoring.

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The Hornets then won a crucial Game 5 on the road that also saw Mashburn snag the scoring lead, although Milwaukee answered with a Game 6 road win where Cassell poured in 33 points. All of that culminated in a Game 7 that saw Baron Davis and Big Dog both post 29 points in a close Bucks home win.

For the first time since 1986, the Bucks were in the Conference Finals. Their opponent was one who had given Milwaukee fits back in the 1980s as well: the Philadelphia 76ers. In what would become one of the most controversial series in Bucks history, Milwaukee couldn’t overcome Allen Iverson and the Sixers.

Allen, Robinson and Cassell all lead one game in scoring apiece. Iverson led the other four, three of which were victories for his 76ers. AI put up more than 30 points per game in the series, while Dikembe Mutombo averaged 16.6 points and 15.6 rebounds for the series.

Ray Allen’s Bucks may have lost the series, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Allen shined the brightest of all Bucks, averaging 27.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. AI, Dikembe and some questionable officiating was just too much to handle.

Next: 49 years in 49 days: 1999-2000 season

The Milwaukee Bucks were so, so close to getting back to the NBA Finals. Closer than Milwaukee has been for quite a while.

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