Milwaukee Bucks: 3 advantages in playoff matchup with Brooklyn Nets

The second round series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets is shaping up to be the best matchup we’ve seen yet in these NBA Playoffs.

Before these two teams square off in a highly-anticipated Game 1 this coming Saturday, it is clear to decipher some of the advantages and disadvantages for both clubs. For one, the Bucks will find themselves in unfamiliar territory as this will be the first playoff series since 2018 where they do not have homecourt advantage working in their favor.

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Although last year’s run in the NBA’s Orlando bubble might not have accurately represented homecourt like playing in Fiserv Forum does, this is the first time in a long time that the Bucks will open a playoff series as the road team.

It will certainly be something to monitor as the first two games in this series will occur in Brooklyn. While that could stand as a disadvantage, let us look on the bright side and pick out three advantages working for Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Bucks have more head coaching experience than the Brooklyn Nets

The difference in head coaching experience between Milwaukee and Brooklyn could not be further apart on the spectrum.

After serving as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs for 17 seasons, Mike Budenholzer has been head coaching since 2013. With 637 regular season games under his belt, the two-time Coach of the Year winner has put together a 375-262 overall record with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. However, the playoffs are certainly far tighter for Budenholzer as he has just a 36-32 record over 68 total contests. Budenholzer has been subject to criticism for his postseason blunders in the past, and rightfully so, but he is no stranger to the big stage.

Meanwhile, Nets head coach Steve Nash is on the opposite side with experience. While the former two-time league MVP and 18-year NBA veteran is no stranger to the game, this is his first coaching gig in the association. Yet, he had a solid first year in Brooklyn by posting a 48-24 record in the regular season, good enough for second in the Eastern Conference standings. Nash and the Nets also opened the playoffs with a solid series in a 4-1 gentleman’s sweep of the depleted Boston Celtics.

Nash and Budenholzer will now find themselves in a chess match against one another in these Eastern Conference Semifinals. While the talent on the floor between both clubs will be a deciding factor in this series, the disparity in experience here could play a massive factor. For reference, the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro recently pointed out an interesting sequence from Nash when the Bucks and Nets squared off earlier this season:

"“But it is also important to remember games like this, when Nash all but had his lunch money stolen by Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer. Most glaring was the way he meekly allowed the Bucks to steamroll his team with an 18-1 run that turned a 103-97 Nets lead with 10 minutes to play into a 115-104 Bucks advantage in just over four minutes of tortured, torturous, one-sided basketball.”"

Nash himself admitted after the Brooklyn loss that he could have done something different such as call a timeout as the Bucks made their dominant comeback. However, Vaccaro writes how Nash wanted to save his timeouts for the end of the game, only to have two left at his disposal when the final buzzer rang.

Sure, this little lapse means relatively little with the postseason wiping the slate clean, but it will be interesting to see what Budenholzer has in store for the first-year head coach. He surprisingly outdueled Heat coach Erik Spoelstra in the first round, and time will tell if he has any more tricks up his sleeve.