Milwaukee Bucks: Challenging final month of regular season awaits
We’re now a little more than three quarters into the 2020-21 season and the Milwaukee Bucks are on the upswing again going into the start of a four-game homestand.
The Bucks have won their three last games to improve to 35-20 on the year following their 120-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks. And over this recent stretch, they recently got critical rotation reinforcements with their respective returns of both Giannis Antetokounmpo and P.J. Tucker on their recently concluded road trip.
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It certainly is encouraging to see the Bucks get healthy down the final stretch of their season. But the final month of their run will be littered with plenty of challenges that will test them going into their eventual playoff run.
With 17 games remaining in their 30 days until the end of their regular season, the Bucks face quite the crunch in trying to finish out their campaign on a high note.
The Milwaukee Bucks will face quite the gauntlet to finish out their regular season
Just as John Schuhmann of NBA.com recently detailed in the remaining schedules for all 30 teams, the Bucks’ opponent winning percentage is 50.4 percent in their final 18 games, which accounted for their meeting with the Hawks.
That’s obviously highlighted by the possible playoff previews they will have when they go up against the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers four times over the next four weeks. That’s also boosted by future meetings like the Phoenix Suns this Monday night and finishing their three-game season series with the Atlanta Hawks.
More so than the tough clashes they have to finish out their regular season and still make a play for the first seed in the East where they’re currently 3.5 games back of the 76ers, Milwaukee will pushed to the limit physically and in their overall durability.
As Schuhmann noted, the Bucks now have five back-to-backs remaining this season, which is tied for the most remaining in the league, along with the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs. Furthermore, four of those back-to-back sets will leave the Bucks on a rest disadvantage. The Bucks are currently 5-4 when playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
Just as Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo discussed after making his return to action after previously missing the Bucks’ last six games, this condensed close to the season is certainly unique to this 2020-21 season. And it’s certainly not ideal for a Bucks team that has set their eyes on reversing their playoff fortunes from the last couple of season and peaking at the right time.
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Unfortunately, this is how the Bucks’ schedule has worked out for them and we’ll only have to wait and see how they respond to the challenges that loom going into the start of the playoffs.