End of deer list: The 10 moments and milestones that defined the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2020

The Milwaukee Bucks fall to the Miami Heat in Eastern Conference Semifinals

After taking care of business against the Magic, the Bucks came up against the Miami Heat going into last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Miami posed to be an interesting and terrifying matchup that could take advantage of the Bucks’ weaknesses that were seldom exposed during the regular season. Unfortunately, those fears were realized over the five-game series.

The Heat bombed away from three at will, routinely breaking down the Bucks’ vaulted defense. And as the Heat built up sound walls to bottle up Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ free-flowing offense was anything but over the course of the series.

Perhaps most debilitating was seeing the Bucks crumble at various moments throughout the series. That was exemplified by their fourth quarter meltdown in Game 3 where they outscored 40-13 in the period, which made history for all of the wrong reasons.

No question about it, the Bucks’ playoff flameout last year stands as one of the franchise’s greatest playoff disappointments ever. With all of the questions it brought up about the Bucks’ vitality and ability to chase championships, a sense of urgency was created to shake up their roster going into an offseason that came on far too soon for the once-mighty Bucks.