Milwaukee Bucks: Historic start to season is flying under the radar

The Milwaukee Bucks are off to an incredible start to the 2019-20 NBA season, but they’ve still gone a bit under the radar. The numbers suggest everyone should be paying more attention to them.

It’s hard for the Milwaukee Bucks to get a lot of national attention these days.

Despite being in the midst of a 13-game winning streak, the longest such streak they’ve had since 1973, they’ve not been talked about much outside of Wisconsin. With teams like the Los Angeles Lakers impressing, and other Eastern Conference rivals exceeding expectations such as the Toronto Raptors, the Bucks are having a hard time attracting the kind of media focus that they got at certain junctures just one season ago.

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Though they may not be getting much love from national circles, it’s worth noting that this hot start is nothing to dismiss. In fact, Milwaukee is having a historic season so far.

Let’s dive into the numbers behind their red-hot run.

Milwaukee’s current record stands at 19-3 through 22 games, which is tied for the best record in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bucks point differential, which stands at an absurd 12.9 points per game, is 3.9 points BETTER than the second best team (Lakers).

In the advanced stats, Milwaukee’s performances to this point stand out too. The team leads the NBA with a 12.3 net rating, once again 3.9 points better than the second placed Lakers. They’re second in offensive rating at 114.1, two-and-a-half points behind the NBA leaders in the Dallas Mavericks (116.5). They’re also leading the league in defensive rating at 101.8. They’re the only team in the league at the moment that is in the top five in offensive rating, defensive rating, and net rating.

Another thing that jumps off the page about the Bucks’ hot start is that they’re performing significantly better than they did even a season ago, a season in which they were one of the league’s truly elite teams. Milwaukee’s net rating was a league-best 8.6 last season. However, that’s 3.7 points worse than their current mark. They’re also posting an offensive rating that is better than last season (114.1 compared to 113.5), and they have a defensive rating that is significantly better as well (101.8 versus 104.9 last season). Those number show that they’re playing at an even higher level.

Milwaukee’s numbers, if they hold, would put them with some incredible company.

Only three teams this decade have finished a season with a net rating above a 10.0: the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, and the 2016-17 Warriors. Of those three, none, not even those historic Warriors teams who are considered to be among the greatest of all-time, posted a net rating in a season as high as what Milwaukee has right now (the best was the 2016-17 Warriors at 11.4, 0.9 points below the Bucks’ current mark).

The Bucks’ offensive rating number, if it holds, would give them the fourth best mark this decade behind the 2016-17 Warriors (114.8), and the 2018-19 Warriors (115) and Houston Rockets (114.9). Their defensive rating would be the best that any team that has posted since the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks.

Some may be skeptical about these stats given that the team has had an easy run of games of late. However, the Bucks haven’t just been beating bad teams. Milwaukee is 13-0 against teams below .500, but they also have a 6-3 record against teams that are .500 or above. That latter record puts them in a tie with the LA Clippers for the second best record in the NBA against .500 or better teams. Much of their 13-game winning streak came with their second best player, Khris Middleton, sidelined with a knee injury too.

Even Basketball-Reference’s Simple Rating System (SRS), which accounts for point differential and strength-of-schedule to create a point score above-or-below the league average, has the Bucks performing at 11.96 points above the league average, over three points better than the second best Raptors.

There are still legitimate reasons for people to be nervous about how their regular season performances will translate into wins in the playoffs. However, there can be no doubt right now that the Bucks are playing at an incredibly high level. If they can continue to improve, both internally, and through potential trades, the Bucks could get even better than they’ve been so far too.

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We’ll see if Milwaukee can continue to maintain their high level in the weeks to come.

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