Milwaukee Bucks: Strong start amid tricky schedule could be key next season

With the release of the schedule for the 2019-20 NBA season, the importance of a strong start for the Milwaukee Bucks has come into focus.

The Milwaukee Bucks joined the rest of the NBA in learning exactly how their season will be mapped out following the release of the 2019-20 regular season schedule on Monday afternoon.

Of course, for the Bucks, the top priority next season will undoubtedly be to emerge from the Eastern Conference and make the Finals come playoff time. Long before that can become a reality, though, the Bucks will be forced to re-assert their position as one of the East’s top teams, and lock in favorable seeding over the course of 82 regular season matchups.

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In that regard, there’s plenty of cause for encouragement for a Milwaukee team that has little reason to fear any opponent following their 60-win exploits last year.

Once again, the Eastern Conference is clearly the lesser of the two, and therefore will provide a comparatively easy ride when put up against the task facing the best teams in the West.

On top of that, it’s always worth noting that if the Bucks are in fact one of the league’s very best teams, they can also take pleasure from knowing they don’t have to play against themselves. The league’s 29 other teams will be forced to come up with gameplans to slow down Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, but there’ll be no such concerns for Mike Budenholzer and co.

In considering the weak East and Milwaukee’s position as one of its very best teams, there are plenty of positive vibes to take from the Bucks’ strength of schedule. This was illustrated by Jared Dubin, who pegged the Bucks for the most favorable strength of schedule of all 30 NBA teams based on the current Vegas over/under lines.

Still, although the overall schedule is encouraging from a Bucks’ perspective, the distribution of those games shouldn’t simply be glossed over. It’s true that every team has to play 82 games, and play every other team at least twice, but it can’t be dismissed that the order in which those games arise can have an impact on momentum and a team’s ultimate output at the end of the year.

With that in mind, there is one quirk of the schedule that requires further attention when looking ahead to what the Bucks could achieve next season.

Starting with Milwaukee’s opener on the road against the Houston Rockets on October 24, 10 of the Bucks’ first 14 games will be played away from Fiserv Forum. That road-heavy spell includes a stretch of seven road games out of eight, including a joint season-long four-game visit out West.

With teams such as the Rockets, Celtics, Raptors, Clippers, Jazz and Pacers all on the slate during that stretch, it’s by no means a cake walk in terms of quality of opponent either.

The Bucks could certainly weather any bumps during that road-heavy portion of the season, and recover, if needed, at Fiserv Forum over the remainder of the campaign. But that depends on just how lofty Milwaukee’s regular season expectations and goals are next year.

Will they really want to lay down a marker, tying up the No. 1 seed and matching or surpassing their 60-win mark of a year ago, or are they going to be more interested in simply working toward the peak of their powers in the postseason?

That consideration of pacing is very much something new for a Bucks squad that hasn’t been tasked with following up a great season very often in recent franchise history.

What’s clear, though, is that if the Bucks want to be positioned toward the front of the pack for the entirety of the year, they’ll need to rack up wins on the road early on.

The team’s 27-14 road record was only matched by the Golden State Warriors last season, and should offer up plenty of optimism. But neither Bucks fan, or the team itself, should be under any illusions as to the grueling road challenges facing on them straight from the opening tip.