Bucks at Suns - Without Khris, Grayson, and Dragic

Bucks up 29-24 after one. Giannis with 11-5-2 in 7 minutes. Bucks ahead despite being only 3 for 12 from three.

Bucks lead by as many as 15, but only up 9 at the half as they go scoreless the last 2:22 of the half.

Suns cut it to one at end of 3. Not doing the little things right.

Ayton has 5 fouls and Giannis just got called.for his first. Suns announcers crying about that. 

Jrue travels with no defender within 10-feet. Really struggling tonight

Yeah I felt that was a weak call but whatever. They even out over the course of the game

Great 4th quarter.

24 - 9 to close out the game.

Defense, A few timely threes = 50th win

And a playoff berth!

Decent win despite no Middleton and team shooting 30% from 3.

Makes you wonder how good this team can be fully loaded and shooting at a decent clip.

Up 3 games in the loss column with 13 to play.   Great back-to-back wins on the road.

Boston had a horrific loss to Houston the other night.   Philly is hot on their heels.  

I know the team may not think much about the 1 seed but honestly there’s a lot more upside than downside.   It’s within reach.  

1 seed means you only play Boston or Philly. It's pretty big this year.

The level to which Jrue Holiday owns Devin Booker is amazing.

Holiday is in Booker’s head, that’s for sure. Or at least it looks that way especially in clutch moments.

You want the 1 seed if for no other reason than home court.   It’s really tough for any team to win game 7s on the road in the playoffs, but if you look at the Bucks historically, their game 7 W/L percentage on the road is pretty awful.

Yes, it may also help you avoid getting a Boston and Philly in back to back series, but I just don’t see a team beating Milwaukee 4 out of 7 and the Bucks have an incredible advantage at Fiserv Forum.

@PackerHawk posted:

1 seed means you only play Boston or Philly. It's pretty big this year.

This year with only 3 real contenders in the East it's huge.   To have Boston and Philly beat each other up in round 2 and have the Bucks play the Knicks or Cavs would be a big advantage.

Don’t disagree with that logic at all.  I just don’t know what to make of the Sixers.  James Harden is one of the all time disappointments in NBA playoff history not unlike Chris Paul.   Joel Embiid is a mixture of bad luck and bad karma and can’t seem to stay healthy in key moments and honestly those two factors (Harden and Embiid) combined make that team a real wild card so can they really be trusted?  And it’s not like Doc Rivers has a great track record either.   As good as they’ve played this year they still have a lot of ????

Boston is a bit weird right now as well in that on paper they are clearly a threat, but they’ve not played well recently and is their current head coach as good as Ime Udoka was for them with Xs and Os?   It doesn’t appear to be the case.  

Cleveland is young but they have a frontcourt that can somewhat match up with Milwaukee.   Not sure they are in the same category as Boston or Philly but they won’t be a pushover IMO.  

If healthy, the Bucks are better than any of those teams.  If they get home court, I give them the series advantage over anyone in the East.  

It's going to be Milwaukee and Boston in the EC Finals. The Bucks *should* get some extra rest. Hopefully that Boston/Philly series goes 7.