Despite a 23-30 record, the Milwaukee Bucks remain committed to competing. Wins in Orlando and Oklahoma City delivered a new jolt of confidence. With Giannis Antetokounmpo returning post-All-Star break, plus the exciting Cam Thomas and Ousmane Dieng additions, there is reason for optimism.
The Bucks' continued win-now approach will be tested immediately. Of their next seven games, crammed into a 10-day window, five are against Eastern Conference foes with a winning record. Eighth-place Miami owns the lowest seed of the bunch. The rest all occupy the playoff field proper.Â
If this roster has a shot to contend, the Milwaukee Bucks should find out quickly.
Facing East contenders will hold a mirror to Milwaukee's playoff ambitions
Thankfully, the Bucks resume action with a soft landing road game against the 15-41 Pelicans. After that, though, they encounter five of six matchups against the following teams: Toronto (32-23), Miami (29-27), New York (35-20), Cleveland (34-21), and Boston (35-19). That would be a challenging string of games for any squad, not just the 12th-place Bucks still trying to establish a firm identity.Â
The good news is that they will play host in all of the above games. Interspersed is a trip to Chicago (24-31), who appears inclined to a post-break tank. The Bucks aren't a dominant team anywhere (they are, after all, seven games below .500), but they have gone 12-12 at the Fiserv Forum.Â
The less amazing news, aside from the difficulty level of the competition, is that only the Knicks (13-13) and Heat (13-16) have a road winning percentage below 61.5 percent. The Raptors actually play better on the road.Â
There is one other early positive: Milwaukee's next game after Boston will be at home against Atlanta, allowing them to gain ground against a team competing directly against them for a Play-in bid.Â
If it wasn't clear before, the Bucks most certainly have their work cut out for them. What this stretch of games will do, at the very least, is indicate whether this recalibrated roster, with Giannis back in the fold, can be a legitimate Play-in contender. Still a game and a half behind the Hawks in 10th, Milwaukee will at minimum need to play above .500 ball the rest of the way.Â
The Bucks have burned any error margin they might have. While a five-game sample isn't much, it could make or break their season. Even baking in more likely wins against the Pelicans and Bulls, going 1-4 or even 0-5 in the other games would be a borderline disaster. It wouldn't just damage their record, either, digging their deficit even deeper. It would cast doubt on whether the Bucks can hold their own against playoff-caliber teams.
That is the type of competition they would face in the first round, having battled their way out of the Play-In Tournament as a seven or eight-seed.Â
General Manager Jon Horst, Giannis, and the organization as a whole clearly want to win. They won't have to wait long to see whether sticking by that commitment makes sense.