3 things to watch in Milwaukee Bucks finale vs Cleveland Cavaliers
After 81 games of Milwaukee Bucks regular season basketball, this is it! The final game of what has been a very up-and-down regular season, to say the least.
They’ll wrap things up today on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have taken two of the first three meetings this season, though the Bucks have been without some of their best players in those games.
It will be the same story today as well. The Bucks have listed Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez as doubtful as well as Grayson Allen and George Hill as out with various injuries. It appears Jrue Holiday drew the short straw for which rotation player would be available but it’s possible he’s active and just doesn’t play in a game with very little significance for Milwaukee.
What’s on the line regarding playoff seeding for the Milwaukee Bucks?
After picking up a win in their last game, the Bucks secured a top-three seed in the East and depending on today’s results, will be either second or third.
A win today makes things pretty simple, they hold on to the second seed and everything is easy. A loss complicates things a bit more, but it’s still pretty simple.
The only way the Bucks can fall out of the second seed is if they lose and the Celtics beat the Memphis Grizzlies today. Boston has the tiebreaker by virtue of record against the rest of the conference.
Otherwise, a loss and then a loss from the Celtics would keep the Bucks in second.
For potential second-round matchup purposes, though, a Celtics loss and a win by the Philadelphia 76ers would put Philly into third and Boston would go to fourth to play the Toronto Raptors, setting up the Sixers in the Bucks’ side of the bracket.
As for who the Bucks would play in the first round, it appears likely to be one of the play-in teams but it would be the Chicago Bulls if Milwaukee falls to third in that one scenario.
The play-in race is fairly silly at the moment, but the only scenario that would see the Brooklyn Nets fall out of the 7th or 8th seed (and thus, be unable to play the Bucks in the first round) is if they lose, the Cavs win, and the Hornets win. Again, all thanks to Matt Moore of Action Network for these seeding scenarios.
A Bucks loss and Cavs win is entirely possible considering how many guys the Bucks are resting, it’s just up to how the Celtics fare against the Grizzlies, with both teams potentially resting guys. Who doesn’t love scoreboard watching!