A taste of things to come?
As the Bucks edge ever closer to clinching their playoff spot, there’s set to be a longer than usual run-up to that first taste of postseason action this year.
With Milwaukee seven games up on the second-placed Toronto Raptors in the loss column, it would take a calamitous collapse for the Bucks not to finish this season as the first seed in the East. As a result, the eighth seed battle will attract plenty of attention from Milwaukee in the months ahead.
Currently, it’s the Orlando Magic who sit in that spot, and they do so with something of a cushion on either side of them.
As things stand, the Magic are three games back of the seventh placed Brooklyn Nets, and two games up on the ninth placed Washington Wizards.
It wouldn’t be too difficult to imagine those gaps on either side stretching out over what remains of the season, allowing the Magic to really consolidate that position.
With that in mind, Saturday’s clash could well offer up a preview of the first hurdle the Bucks will face when their all-important playoff journey gets underway in April.