Following a turbulent regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks are currently looking to rewrite the narrative surrounding their postseason woes.
Boasting the league’s best overall record over the previous two seasons, the Bucks infamously suffered back-to-back playoff collapses, which has hindered their image in the public eye. Entering their third season since ascending into legitimate title-contending status, this team failed to replicate that same success the league had grown accustomed to seeing.
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With two games left to play in the regular season, the Bucks faced an interesting predicament. Being locked into the Eastern Conference’s third seed at the time, the Bucks were set to square off against the Miami Heat in a game with massive implications.
If Milwaukee won, it would almost guarantee that they would face the Heat in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Considering this Miami squad knocked them out in the second round of last year’s playoffs, many believed they should throw this game to avoid them.
In fact, ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently noted that there were discussions among members of the Bucks’ organization on whether they should. However, those conversations were brief as the Bucks unanimously opted to keep everyone in the lineup and play this regular season game against the Heat all systems go.
Throttling Miami in that matchup, the Bucks made it crystal clear that they wanted to avenge last year’s defeat and run it back against this Heat team in the playoffs once more.
The Milwaukee Bucks sent a message with their dominance over the Heat in their first round series
Aside from a two-point overtime victory for the Bucks in Game 1, this series was not close whatsoever. Milwaukee handled their business with relatively little resistance over the next three games to complete the series sweep of Miami, exorcising their playoff demons in the process.
Yes, it is hard to avoid that these two teams look fairly different than when they met in the playoffs last season. Both rosters underwent significant changes, and perhaps it was those changes that helped turn the tide with the end result this time around. Milwaukee’s additions of Jrue Holiday, Bryn Forbes, Bobby Portis, and P.J. Tucker flashed their brilliance all throughout the series with their production on the floor to help propel this team to victory.
In addition to everything the Bucks have done on the court to improve this season, they have also adopted a new mentality that involves channeling out these past failures. Ironically, one of the players that has seemingly been a catalyst in implementing this mindset was Tucker, who had not been on the roster for those aforementioned playoff debacles.
Since coming aboard midseason through trade, Tucker has preached the importance of toughness and it has rubbed off on his teammates. Recently speaking with the media, the 36-year-old forward explained the team’s collective mindset as he and Bucks pursue an NBA championship. You can watch the full clip on the team’s official YouTube channel:
"“Be dogs. That’s all we talk about. That’s all I ever talk about, we’ve gotta be dogs. The perception of us and what people think in the past, we are erasing that. We’re coming out every night focused, not shying away from moments. I wasn’t here, Jrue wasn’t here, Bobby [wasn’t here], we’ve got a bunch of new guys in addition to everybody who’s been here, but we’re just bringing that mentality. That’s what it’s about, us carrying that mentality every game, every possession, every day.”"
This toughness is something that the team has lacked over the past two seasons. Tucker, Portis, and Holiday have helped bring an edge and toughness into the fold for this team, which has proven impactful to this point. It was on full display throughout their first round set with the Heat, and time will tell if he carries throughout the entirety of the playoffs.
This team believes they can beat anyone, and that will be put to the test as they have a gauntlet ahead in trying to win their first championship in over five decades.