Bucks at Cavs, Game 82nd, Bucks purposely tanking?

The game to tank would have been the Celtics game.  I assume Boston will be resting players against Memphis later.

The Bucks will beat the no defense Nets. No need to avoid them.

Jordan Nwora an amazing -38 in 21 minutes. 2 for 12 from the floor

Mamu -35 in 21 minutes.

Cavs already resting Kevin Love at the half.

Kevin Love has 32 points in 14 minutes.

Interesting read

https://fivethirtyeight.com/fe...an-milwaukee-repeat/

I figured the Bucks would throw this game away. Which is odd since they will have the next week off.

Boston up 27 half way through the 3rd, and Memphis resting starters. Looks like it is the Bulls for round 1

I really dislike the way the Bucks handled this.

I think Boston is going to beat the Nets in Round 1 and the Bucks are going to then end up playing Boston in Round 2 without home court. I know they won against Brooklyn last year without home court, but it's obviously a huge advantage.

If they get beat by Boston, they'll deserve to lose after giving away 2 games this month by not playing any starters (today and the Clippers game).

@Slobknocker posted:

Boston up 27 half way through the 3rd, and Memphis resting starters. Looks like it is the Bulls for round 1

I thouhgt the Bucs had the tie breaker over Boston.   Wouldn't that mean the Bucks get the winner of Nets/Cavaliers?

Boston has the tie breaker over Milwaukee

There are going to be some fascinating first round matchups

Boston or Miami v Brooklyn.  The 76ers and Raptors.   Bucks get a favorable draw with Chicago

Giannis, without any substantial injury this year, has taken almost 20% of the season off. I get occasionally resting a guy with sore knees, but isn’t that a bit extreme?

Maybe that’s why he didn’t have a substantial injury?

Interesting strategy that I at first didn't get but looking closer I think I like it.

Both the 7th and 8th seed will be tougher outs than the Bulls.  Tougher outs means longer series, better chance for injuries, etc.  They are talking about Simmons back in some form for the Nets.  Hopefully it's Nets Celts with the Nets winning and then Heat Nets.   Can't think of a more fascinating year ever in terms of seeding (obviously the play in helps).

I get the idea of resting your star players. I just don't like the games where they decide to sit down 4 of the five starters and basically concede the game. I'd like to see them stagger the load management. It would also be an advantage to get some other lineup combinations to play together for some live game reps in case it has to happen in the playoffs because of foul trouble for injury.

It sounds like the only reason Holiday played us because it allowed him to collect some type of performance bonus.

“Played”. Eight seconds. Bring on the Bulls.

@The Crusher posted:

Interesting strategy that I at first didn't get but looking closer I think I like it.

Both the 7th and 8th seed will be tougher outs than the Bulls.  Tougher outs means longer series, better chance for injuries, etc.  They are talking about Simmons back in some form for the Nets.  Hopefully it's Nets Celts with the Nets winning and then Heat Nets.   Can't think of a more fascinating year ever in terms of seeding (obviously the play in helps).

If the Bucks beat the Bulls, they will play the winner of the Celtics and whoever the 7th seed is. If the Nets win the 7-8 playin (most likely), the Bucks would play the Celtics-Nets winner in Round 2.

The Heat will play whoever the 8th seed is and the play the Sixers-Raptors winner.

@MichiganPacker posted:

If the Bucks beat the Bulls, they will play the winner of the Celtics and whoever the 7th seed is. If the Nets win the 7-8 playin (most likely), the Bucks would play the Celtics-Nets winner in Round 2.

The Heat will play whoever the 8th seed is and the play the Sixers-Raptors winner.

That is incorrect.  If the Heat beat the 8th seed (assume it's not the Nets) they will then play the next lowest seed.  If the Nets end up the 7th seed and beat the Celts, then they would play the Heat.  The Bucks would play the winner of the Sixers (#4) and Raptors (#5).

I don't think the NBA re-seeds.  This is from Wikipedia - best I could find with a quick google search:

The 1st through 6th seeds will continue to use the same system that was enacted prior to the 2016 NBA playoffs. The top six teams in each conference (East and West), ranked in order by win–loss records, qualify for the playoffs. The tie-break criteria for playoff seeding and home-court use first head-to-head results between the tied teams is the first tie-breaker, and whether a team won its division championship is the second tie-breaker.^[2]

Both conferences conduct the playoffs in the traditional bracket format. All rounds are best-of-seven series. Series are played in the 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while their opponent hosts games 3, 4, and 6, with games 5, 6 and 7 being played if needed. Once the playoffs start, the bracket is fixed; teams are never "reseeded", unlike in the National Football League (NFL) where the strongest remaining teams face the weakest teams in subsequent rounds. This format has been used since 2014, after NBA team owners unanimously voted to change the format of the NBA finals from the 2–3–2 format on October 23, 2013.^[3]

@The Crusher posted:

That is incorrect.  If the Heat beat the 8th seed (assume it's not the Nets) they will then play the next lowest seed.  If the Nets end up the 7th seed and beat the Celts, then they would play the Heat.  The Bucks would play the winner of the Sixers (#4) and Raptors (#5).

As Cheezers says, the NBA does not reseed. If the Bucks beat the Bulls, they will play the winner of the 2/7 series.

My bad, I was incorrect!  It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

There aren’t any easy opponents at this point in the season.  The East is loaded and if Milwaukee doesn’t play with urgency and execute at a high level they absolutely could get knocked off.  

Still, I like their chances to at least get back to the Finals.   It all starts with the Bulls.