As long as you can get past the borderline dire basketball, the race for the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference is turning out to be pretty exciting. Following Tuesday’s action, the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets were all within a half game of each other in the standings, with the Brooklyn Nets lurking a couple games back.
The one team everyone seems to be forgetting about is the Milwaukee Bucks, who currently hold the sixth seed.
All is not well in Milwaukee.
Following last season’s 15-win campaign, the Bucks were one of the league’s feel-good stories, compiling a 30-23 record heading into the All-Star break. The Bucks had a new ownership group, a new head coach in Jason Kidd and a revived commitment to the city of Milwaukee.
Courtesy of USA Today: Jabari Parker’s injured seemed to doom the Bucks season.
With a collection of young talent, things were overwhelmingly positive for the Bucks. Kidd masked the team’s lack of offensive talent by utilizing their length to build a suffocating defense. Even a torn ACL suffered by forward Jabari Parker, the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, and starting center Larry Sanders’ decision to walk away from basketball couldn’t break the team’s stride. Hey, it’s hard to frown when you have Giannis Antetokounmpo doing the impossible on a nightly basis.
That all changed at the trade deadline. Needing a guard to replace the departed Goran Dragic, the Phoenix Suns initiated a deal that sent a draft pick to Philadelphia, guard Brandon Knight to Phoenix and point guard Michael Carter-Williams to Milwaukee. It was a smart move by Bucks general manager John Hammond. Carter-Williams has two more years left on his rookie contract and has more upside as a pure point guard than Knight, who is headed for restricted free agency this summer.
Still, it hasn’t worked out in the short-term. The Bucks are 4-9 since the trade. Whether they’re missing Knight’s leadership or his jump-shot, the numbers aren’t pretty. In the 53 games before the trade, the Bucks averaged 99.2 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting from the field. They were knocking down 7.2 three-pointers at a 37.8 percent clip.
After the trade, the Bucks are only scoring 91 points per game, and the shooting numbers have dipped to 43.1 percent overall and 33.2 percent from three. Over the course of the season, the 91 points per game would have them tied with Philadelphia for last in the league.
The Bucks’ postseason hopes are slipping fast after hovering in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket for the majority of the season. Now at 34-32, Milwaukee holds only a four game lead on the four teams below them surging into playoff contention.
Their schedule won’t do them any favors, either. The Bucks are in New Orleans to play a very good Pelicans team Tuesday night, and they follow it up with a home game against San Antonio on Wednesday. All told, only three of their remaining 16 games come against teams out of playoff contention.
Staying in the playoffs won’t be easy. The Bucks will have to grind out more than a few wins against tough competition, and do so knowing there are more experienced teams nipping at their heels.
Photo: USA Today