Bucks Magic Number

In looking at that list I see a record of 8-4.  Losses against Houston and LAC and at Philly and OKC.    With a healthy Brogdon I see them winning a couple of those games. 

I do worry a bit about the back to backs so maybe they drop another game in there. 

Just keep winning baby.....I'm not sold they will lose to the Sixers in Philly.

Toronto isn't going to "win out" - I think the #1 seed is important but it isn't worth killing yourself to attain.

One fyi.

I know Middleton's play has at times been - well - pretty bad.

Perhaps he is a clutch player.  His play during the playoffs last year was his best play for the entire year.

We all can only hope he's saving himself for the playoffs

Toronto is 5-5 in their last 10 games including losses (2) Detroit, Cleveland, and Orlando.    I hardly expect them to win out. 

The Bucks are 6-4 in their last 10 games, but that includes a loss in Utah, in San Antonio, and Philly at home.   7 of their last 10 were road games.  

Of their last 12 games, only 4 are on the road with at Philly being the one tough matchup.  There’s no reason the Bucks can’t finish strong.  

I think it will be big to win these next 4. You win these next four and Toronto loses at least one of the games against OKC, then the magic number falls to 4 with 8 games to play and both teams start looking to rest some guys to get as healthy as possible for the playoffs. If you lose a couple of these next 4, then it becomes more of a tough slog to the finish.

Home vs. Lakers 3/19 

At Cleveland 3/20. A dreaded back to back. 

Home vs. Miami 3/22

Home vs. Cleveland 3/24

Giannis listed as questionable for tomorrow with the ankle. 

That makes the Laker game a much dicier proposition. 

No Giannis, no Lebron 

Music City posted:

No Giannis, no Lebron 

Kinda feel sorry for the guy who paid top dollar for my Bucks-Laker tickets a few weeks ago  

Two tickets to the Bledshow 

Down to 8.

Big to get a winnable game in the + column tonight. The back to back will be a challenge.

Challenge my ass.....Go crush Cleveland.

You're a young basketball team. Suck it up buttercup. It's time to get ready for the playoffs.

Bucks win, Raptors lose. Magic number is now 6 with 9 to play. 

Should be less but I'm happy.....

I can't remember ever rooting for OKC that hard. 

Just get healthy, Bucks.

OH MY!!!!

https://youtu.be/hIy_cvJws9I?t=510

MichiganPacker2 posted:

Bucks win, Raptors lose. Magic number is now 6 with 9 to play. 

Yes!

x2 - Magic Number now 4 with 8 to play - Bucks have tiebreaker, yes?

Tuesday night on TNT against the Rockets is next. 

Harden will probably take 45 shots to try to put up as many points as possible for the MVP competition. 

Hopefully he misses 42 of them.

Warriors announcers were making a big case for Giannis over Harden simply because he plays defense (well, I might add) & Harden doesn't do shit on that side of the court.

The award is Most VALUABLE player. I said it before.... take Harden off the Rockets & they still contend for the West title. Take Giannis off the Bucks & they're probably an 8 seed.

It's not even close but the idiots who get to vote see Harden putting up 50 or 60 & get all starry eyed. Even if the Rockets lose. As long as Harden scores 57 he's the MVP 🙄

I don’t see how you can possibility give Harden the nod over Giannis.  Harden is a fantastic scorer but Giannis does it all and they have the best record in the NBA.  

Meanwhile, Toronto and Boston are fading big time leading up to the playoffs.   Seems very strange but I’m not sure the chemistry on either team is all that great.  Just goes to show talent isn’t everything. 

And yes, Bucks have tiebreaker over Raptors given 3-1 head to head record against them.   Lamb hits the half court prayer to beat the Raptors wow! 

Tschmack posted:

Meanwhile, Toronto and Boston are fading big time leading up to the playoffs.   Seems very strange but I’m not sure the chemistry on either team is all that great.  Just goes to show talent isn’t everything. 

You'll eventually see it. Been saying it all year....Philly is the threat. 

They might be the "threat" but they have zero depth & they completely suck at closing out games. 

I'm just pissed the Bucks didn't draft Embiid instead of Parker. ****!!

As bad as it looks now, I think Parker was more of a "sure thing" than Embiid since Embiid had injury issues in college.  And then of course Parker goes and blows his knee out twice after joining the Bucks.  We'll never know for sure if Parker could have been a little bit better than he was if he had stayed healthy.  Maybe it would have made no difference, but it's too bad the Bucks never got to see him 100% healthy for very long. 

Embiid's broken foot put significant risk on his draft stock. If I remember right it was a broken navicular which has a pretty unpredictable healing rate. Jabari was the "low risk" pick. 

Bucks by seven

Don’t kid yourself Embiid still has injury risk.  He’s a fantastic talent, but he’s been dinged a lot.  At the time, choosing Parker was the right move. 

The good news for Milwaukee was that they didn’t extend him after last season. Now that would have been a disaster.

For all the talent the Sixers have they haven’t proven shit yet either.  I’m not convinced they are the team to beat.  Maybe they will turn into that team but they aren’t there now. 

Sixers get crushed tonight at Orlando 

119-98 

That’s the team we should fear?  

Honestly, they get Brogdon and Mirotic back and if they play well I don’t see any reason why Milwaukee can’t make it to the conference finals or championship round. 

fightphoe93 posted:

As bad as it looks now, I think Parker was more of a "sure thing" than Embiid since Embiid had injury issues in college.  And then of course Parker goes and blows his knee out twice after joining the Bucks.  We'll never know for sure if Parker could have been a little bit better than he was if he had stayed healthy.  Maybe it would have made no difference, but it's too bad the Bucks never got to see him 100% healthy for very long. 

I agree Jabari was the right pick, but his defense was always likely to be awful. He lacked effort before the injuries and never did move well laterally. Coach K sat him during the second half of Duke's tourney loss during his one year in college because he was a such a liability of on defense. This is the same guy that after being criticized for lacking any effort on defense, signed with the Bulls and immediately said they don't pay him to play defense. 

That draft turned out to be really weak. Besides Embiid, the two best players are probably Jokic (2nd rounder) and Capela (25th pick in the first round). 

Tschmack posted:

Sixers get crushed tonight at Orlando 

119-98 

That’s the team we should fear?  

Honestly, they get Brogdon and Mirotic back and if they play well I don’t see any reason why Milwaukee can’t make it to the conference finals or championship round. 

Brogdon is the key. 

Tschmack posted:

Sixers get crushed tonight at Orlando 

119-98 

That’s the team we should fear?   

They said the same thing when we lost to Cleveland last week 

Philly will be a tough out, I think they are the second best team in the East.  They play the Bucks tough. If we get Brogdon healthy no reason we shouldn't come out of the East.

If Boston ever gets their act together they are still the team to beat in the East.  They destroyed the Sixers in last years playoffs and they match up pretty well with the Bucks as well.  They are also battle tested which is something none of the other teams in the East can say.  

Philly has the best starting 5 in the conference, no doubt about it. But their bench is weak, they struggle on the road, and I’m not sure when the game slows down or gets physical they are well equipped to respond especially defensively.   Top to bottom, Boston has the best talent and depth 1-8 or 1-9 and they have the best coach in the playoffs. They buckle down defensively and have some nastiness and attitude about them.  All things that usually work well in the postseason.   

It would behoove their 1st round opponent to take them out.  If Boston advances look out.   All they need is a window or a spark and then it’s on. 

Down to 2 to clinch #1

Magic number is 1, yes?

3 game lead with 4 games to play. Plus they own the tie-breaker.

Think about this- they have 4 losses to 3 of the 5 of the worst teams in the NBA: Phoenix twice, Cleveland, and now Atlanta. A fifth of their losses for the season.

That’s crazy... 

Just goes to show you how hard it is to put together a 70+ win season.

I'd like to see the Bucks get to 60 but don't kill yourselves doing it.

C'mon Bucks crush the Sixers & Let's clinch this thing on Thursday!

10 of their 20 losses were 5 points or less. Of those 10 losses, half were decided by one possession or basket.

The Bucks have only had a handful of games they weren’t competitive against this year.   Realistically, with a lucky bounce here or there they could be on pace for 65 wins.

What’s interesting/strange is Phoenix only has 18 wins, but they’ve beaten Milwaukee twice, Golden State (away), Denver, San Antonio, and Boston (away).  

Phoenix only decides to play when they have some actual competition - their version of winning the title I guess. Meanwhile the big boys "show mercy" on Phoenix & don't try. Reminds me of how the Vikings play.

ESPN posted a stat yesterday after the Bucks beat the Nets - Teams that have 45 or more double-digit victories in a season have ALL gone on to win the NBA Championship. (95-97 Bulls, 2014-15 & 16-17 Warriors, Bucks in 1971) etc.

Pretty cool. Now of course our favorite team will **** up the perfect record, due to injury, I'm sure.

That 71 Bucks team was so good.  There’s no question they win more championships had Kareem stayed in Milwaukee.  

**** the Lakers for getting him. 

Magic number ZERO!!

Been with this team since I was old enough to know anything. 35 years watching Bucks basketball. Proudly wore my Moncrief jersey tonight to the game with his HOF announcement and with him in attendance courtside. 

Never dreamed they’d have the best player in the world. Never thought they’d win 60 games. Never dreamed they’d be the best team with the best record. Everything that’s happening has never happened before. 

I know winning it all this year is a tall order. It isn’t likely to happen. They may not be ready and this amazing season may be just one step in a process that lasts another year or two. But damn this shit sure has been fun...