Milwaukee Bucks aren’t the only contender dealing with bubble inconsistency
By Adam McGee
The Milwaukee Bucks’ start in Orlando hasn’t been all that stellar, but they’re not alone in terms of contenders who haven’t hit the ground running.
With two losses in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks haven’t landed in Orlando to restart the regular season with the kind of roaring form that was such a staple of their play throughout the vast majority of the 2019-20 campaign.
A victory against the Boston Celtics to resume the regular season was certainly a positive sign, but close losses and poor execution down the stretch against the Houston Rockets and an almost comically depleted Brooklyn Nets squad have since led to increased anxiety in some quarters as to how the Bucks’ brilliant season may ultimately finish up.
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Given the high stakes facing the Bucks this summer, between their own very realistic championship hopes and how the season’s outcome is tied to the decision Giannis Antetokounmpo will have to make on his long-term future, it’s not all that surprising that even a minor blip in form for Milwaukee has been accompanied by greater scrutiny and concern.
The truth, though, is that the Orlando bubble is an entirely new proposition for all NBA teams. That means that not only has preparing for this reality of NBA games been a new process for everyone, but it also means that we don’t yet know whether the teams that have really hit the ground running will be able to sustain that form through the playoffs, or whether the slower starters in Orlando could yet have the last laugh.
On that front, it’s worth pointing out that the Bucks are far from the only top contender to have had a shaky start to live at Walt Disney World Resort.
As Milwaukee prepares to play its fourth game in Orlando on Thursday, a win against the Miami Heat would see them off to a .500 start over that span. That’s very much in line with the majority of the Bucks’ major rivals too.
The LA Clippers are currently at 1-2, the Lakers and Celtics at 2-2, with the Heat and 76ers both 2-1.
In fact, of the teams deemed to be among the league’s true championship contenders, it’s only the reigning champion Toronto Raptors who have started back on top form, boasting a 3-0 record to this point.
In other words, whether it’s attributable to rust, a break from routine, or just the general strangeness of living in a bubble environment away from friends and family, the NBA’s best teams have generally looked far from themselves so far.
On that front, an interesting Bucks detail emerged via Marc Stein’s New York Times newsletter:
"“Upon arrival at Disney World, Milwaukee’s coaching staff backed off for the first week and let its players engage in the sort of pickup games commonplace at team practice facilities after Labor Day in a typical year.The idea was to ease into structure. Tempting as it surely was to zoom right into practices after such a long layoff to make up for lost time, I’m told that the Bucks wanted to move cautiously and pace themselves in the belief that, if things go right, they will be in Florida for three months chasing a championship.”"
That consideration on the Bucks’ part was pointed out to Stein “by an admiring rival who found their patience ‘smart.'”
And that could yet prove to be the case. But really, if there’s anything to be taken from the early results in the NBA bubble, it’s that the early results from the bubble should be viewed less with a grain of salt and more with a couple of handful’s worth.
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The Bucks will be better than they have been so far, as will the Clippers, Lakers, and so on. Will the Raptors remain as good as they have been to date? That might be the most interesting question, and one the Bucks could end up paying a whole lot more attention to in the weeks ahead.