Milwaukee Bucks: Timing for eight-game homestand couldn’t be better

The timing couldn’t have come better for the Milwaukee Bucks to return home. Save for the weather, of course.

Having lost their last three games, this serves as just as the Bucks’ second three-game losing streak of the Mike Budenholzer era. And it’s important to note that this slide has coincided with the Bucks being without Jrue Holiday as the veteran guard has been in the league’s and safety protocols.

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Being without one of their most indispensable players has put the Bucks in a tough spot and the timing of losing Holiday couldn’t have worked out worse with the Bucks facing off against the best of the West in the back half of their now-completed road swing.

Now back home and getting set to kick off a season-long eight-game homestand, the Bucks are hoping that some home cooking is in store to cure what is ailing them at the moment.

After all, the Bucks have often looked their best when at home in Fiserv Forum as they currently hold a 9-2 record so far this season. Furthermore, the Bucks have paired that with a league-leading +13.9 net rating while at home, per NBA.com/stats.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ best play this season has come while at home.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that during a season as strange as this that the Bucks have been more comfortable when playing where they know best.

The rigors of being on the road for extended periods of time has only been made harder by the strict health and safety protocols set on down by the NBA. While necessary to maintain the health and safety of NBA players, they have felt the brunt of playing under such a strict and foreign environment, which led to Holiday saying to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz ($$) that players “can’t truly be themselves.”

Couple that with the lack of practice time, which is necessary for a new-look squad such as the Bucks to tinker with chemistry and getting down the various schemes have thrown out on the floor, it all has led to the disparity we’ve seen in the Bucks’ performances this season.

There’s been no greater case for that than how Milwaukee has performed defensively when at home versus on the road. The Bucks hold the second-best defensive rating by allowing 105.5 points per 100 possessions in their 11 home games so far. That number slips to 113.8 points per 100 possessions allowed when on the Bucks are on the road, which stands 23rd in the league.

Of course, most of the Bucks’ bigger blowouts have come at home and the strength of opposing teams, save for the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz, hasn’t been as strong as what they’ve seen on the road. Those are coincidentally Milwaukee’s pair of home losses this year and the Bucks have won their home tilts by a total of 149 points.

No matter how many factors you look into as well as the context under which the NBA is holding this season, the Bucks are aware that their overall play this season hasn’t been up to the same standard from the last two regular seasons. Just as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer discussed following their loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night, per Steve Megargee of the Associated Press:

"“No doubt it’s going to be good to get back home and play at Fiserv Forum and be back with our families, back in kind of our comfort zone,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “But we can’t just rely on that. We’re going to have to play better and get ready to go.”"

Some of that was to be expected, but it doesn’t make the struggles any more bearable to experience. Now it’s on the Bucks to take the lessons they’ve learned in their road struggles and turn them into sustainable productivity over this homestand.