The highs and lows continue for the Milwaukee Bucks going into the final stretch run of their 2020-21 season.
The highs, such as sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers, brought the Bucks that much closer towards making the race for the top seed in the East that much tighter. Yet their 111-104 loss to the Atlanta Hawks Sunday night, while on the second night of a back-to-back, mitigated the progress they were making after going through their depleted East rival just days prior.
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Still, this Bucks team stand 5-3 over the last eight games and took some pivotal wins over the last two-week stretch. Whether it ultimately improves their playoff positioning remains to be seen, but they’ll certainly look to do so over this ongoing four-game road trip.
So without further ado, let’s dive into some of notable trends that have emerged over the last couple of weeks for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Health has been a rising trend for the Milwaukee Bucks.
It’s been put on the backburner for now, but Bucks superstar and reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, returned from a six game absence after having dealt with left knee soreness that kept him out of action for the longest stretch of his career.
Since returning from his six-game absence, Antetokounmpo has been up to par by averaging 26.3 points on .594/.286/.645 shooting, 11.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals across 30.6 minutes per game. While he gave us all a scare with the late game cramp in the Bucks’ loss to the Phoenix Suns last week, Antetokounmpo hasn’t suffered any lingering effects from his knee soreness.
Along with Antetokounmpo, the Bucks have finally seen more out of their big trade addition, P.J. Tucker. Having missed 11 games with a strained left calf since arriving to Milwaukee last month, Tucker has plugged into his role spelling Antetokounmpo and giving the Bucks some more defensive steel within their strong frontcourt.
His production won’t wow anyone as he’s averaging 3.2 points while shooting 7-for-18 from the field (38.9 percent) and 5-for-11 from three (45.5 percent), along with 3.3 rebounds across 18.4 minutes per game in his last six appearances. Managing his workload and overall health will be absolutely critical ahead of the Bucks’ playoff run next month.
At this point, and we’ll certainly knock on plenty of wood, the Bucks appear to be going into the postseason at full strength and that’s certainly more than they could say in the last couple of years at a similar point in the season.