Photo via Twitter / Bucks
Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton
Any week that the Milwaukee Bucks begin atop the Eastern Conference standings is a good one, but with two weeks left to play in the 2022-23 NBA season, it is an especially good week for Milwaukee. Despite losing to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, Milwaukee comes into the week with a record of 53-21 with just eight games left to play. Any combination of seven wins and Boston Celtics losses will result in clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference, which makes Thursday’s matchup at Fiserv Forum one of the most important games of the regular season. There is an outside possibility that the Bucks could clinch the Eastern Conference regular season title by the end of this week, but that isn’t entirely likely. Bucks fans can start watching the outcome of Boston’s remaining games with anticipation this week.
The remaining matchups are certainly in Milwaukee’s favor. Five of the Bucks remaining games are against teams that are currently looking at the play-in tournament or eliminated from the postseason altogether. Four of the remaining games are at Fiserv Forum, and Milwaukee is one of just six teams in the NBA to have less than 10 losses at home all season. The Bucks can finish no worse than fourth in the Eastern Conference right now, meaning they’ll have home court advantage in at least their first round playoff matchup even with a total collapse. This week, though, they’ll make it a mission to lock up the Central Division first, and then the Eastern Conference afterwards. Here’s what is in store.
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Monday, March 27 at Detroit (6 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks embark on their final multi-game road trip of the year to start the week, as they’ll head to Detroit on Monday night for a matchup with the Pistons. Detroit is one of two teams already mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, with an NBA worst record of 16-58 to start the week. Milwaukee has already beaten Detroit three times this season, but that doesn’t mean the Pistons will be unwilling to play spoiler to the Bucks’ regular season conference title hopes. When your team is at the bottom of the NBA, you look for anything to motivate your players in games like this. Milwaukee will want to bounce back after Saturday’s loss, as well.
Wednesday, March 29 at Indiana (6 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The week continues on Wednesday in Indiana, as Milwaukee will have back-to-back games that include a big matchup with Boston on Thursday. The Pacers are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, and they need every game at this point to get into the tenth spot, which would mean the NBA play-in tournament. Milwaukee could rest some players to prepare them for Thursday night, but they need to make sure they aren’t looking over a team that still has a chance to make the postseason in the process. The Pacers also surprised the Bucks by beating them at Fiserv Forum just two weeks ago.
Thursday, March 30 vs. Boston (6:30 p.m., TNT)
All eyes in the Eastern Conference are on Thursday night. At this point, the conference race isn’t down to two teams just yet, but the two favorites to win the East go head-to-head when Boston comes to town. If Milwaukee were to win their two games prior, and Boston loses to Washington on Tuesday, that would reduce the Bucks’ magic number to win the regular season conference title to just two. This game will be about more than that, though, as this is also possibly a preview of the Eastern Conference finals in the playoffs as well. Home court advantage played a major factor when Milwaukee and Boston faced each other in the conference semifinals last year, and the Bucks will certainly want to win the conference to have the higher seed if that ends up being the case. However, if the NCAA tournament has shown us anything this year, it’s that you never know what can happen in the tournament format. The only certainty right now is that Thursday’s game is a must-win for the Bucks.
Sunday, April 2 vs. Philadelphia (7 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
With an extra day of rest at home, Sunday night will be another tough game for Milwaukee, as the third-place 76ers come to town for their final meeting of the regular season. Philadelphia comes into the week just two games behind the Celtics, and could still sneak into the top two seeds in the conference with the remaining games to play. More importantly, Sunday night’s game is also another possible preview of a tough postseason series, as Philadelphia is led by an MVP candidate in Joel Embiid and guard James Harden, who missed time on Saturday night due to an Achilles injury. The 76ers will be eager to prove that the conference isn’t a two-team battle for the top spot, and a win over Milwaukee could do just that. Sunday night will certainly be an entertaining contest, no matter what.
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