Ranking 5 potential first round opponents for the Milwaukee Bucks

Ranking potential first-round opponents for the Milwaukee Bucks: #3 – Cleveland Cavaliers

Now, there is a pretty decent gap between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the two teams listed already. While I’m confident that the Milwaukee Bucks could (and should) beat the Cavs in the first round, they’d be a much tougher out.

A lot of that has to do with what they can throw at Giannis Antetokounmpo in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. A couple of mobile bigs with length seems like it would set up a relatively difficult time for the reigning Finals MVP.

Antetokounmpo is 6-of-14 against Allen on 2-point shots this season and 2-of-5 against Mobley. Allen is also out indefinitely with a fractured finger, but the expectation is that he would return for the playoffs.

Darius Garland is also a handful to guard and has been fantastic in the pick and roll with Allen and Mobley. He struggled in their loss but bounced back with a 19-point, eight-assist game in their win over the actual Bucks roster.

In terms of their matchups this season, we have to throw the second meeting right out the window when the Bucks were without basically everyone important on their roster and, as you would expect, got their doors blown off.

Otherwise, it’s 1-1 with one more game to go at the end of the season. Milwaukee won the first game with both teams at relatively full health and then the Bucks got stomped in the most recent game in what is one of their worst losses of the season.

In the end, I think the veteran Bucks would be able to dispatch the young Cavs, but it would be a fun matchup with how they’ve built their roster.