Bucks will try to dig out of hole
The Milwaukee Bucks have put themselves in a precarious position.
With 14 games left and in the midst of the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Bucks wasted a golden opportunity on Wednesday night by losing to the Orlando Magic — a team with one of the worst records in the East that was also playing the second game of a back-to-back.
To make matters worse, the win would have given Milwaukee some breathing room. Later Wednesday night, the Miami Heat, a half-game behind the seventh-place Bucks but in possession of the tie-breaker between the teams, suffered their own letdown in an overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Maybe worst of all, as frustrating as
Milwaukee’s loss in Orlando might have been, anyone who follows the team can’t say it was surprising.
The Bucks have spent the bulk of the season scuffling defensively, either by way of an imperfect scheme, a lack of consistent effort from players or a combination of the two. That’s led to Milwaukee slipping behind by double digits more often than a playoff team should, battling back and more often than not ultimately falling short in those contests.
With two days off before facing the Atlanta Hawks at 5 p.m. Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Bucks will need to figure out if they can use Wednesday’s embarrassment as a wake-up call.
The problem, though, is they’ve spent the bulk of this season blowing through alarm after alarm.
“It’s been a wake-up call all season; it’s the story of our season,” point guard Eric Bledsoe said. “Get down, come back, get down again, come back, so it’s nothing new to us. It’s just, we can’t keep letting this happen because once we get in the playoffs it can’t carry over.”
While the Bucks have generally been decent against teams below .500 (22-8), they’ve had a habit of digging themselves into deep holes all season regardless of opponent. They’ve trailed by 10 or more points in 38 of their 68 games (55.8%), the worst mark among current playoff teams.
Milwaukee has gone on to win 10 of those games, a 26.3% success rate. That’s above average relative to the league, but it’s not the kind of statistic you hope to improve because it means yet another game of having to dig out of a hole.
Recently, including Wednesday’s game when they trailed, 36-20, at the end of the first quarter, the Bucks have gotten off to slow starts in games. For the season, they’ve trailed 37 times heading into the second quarter.
“I’d like to think that we’ve played games (and) that we’ve addressed issues in terms of being ready to play from the beginning, but maybe that message hasn’t come through,” Bucks coach Joe Prunty said. “If this is it (a wake-up call), great, but it should have been there already.”
Milwaukee’s playoff situation mirrors its season, as the Bucks have dug themselves into a deep hole. Sure, they’re near locks to make the postseason with 14 games remaining, but they’re going to be hard-pressed to get out of the eighth spot in the East.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Bucks were in seventh place by a halfgame over the Heat and trailed the sixth-place Philadelphia 76ers by one game and the fifth-place Washington Wizards by 21⁄2 games. But the remaining schedule does not favor Milwaukee.
“We’re on it every day,” Bucks wing Khris Middleton said of checking the standings. “Every game means something — every win, every loss for every team that’s 3 through 8 right now. It’s a crucial point in the season where we have to lock in and make that extra push.”
If the Bucks can’t make a run and climb to at least the sixth seed, it’s likely they’ll enter the off-season without any picks in the NBA draft.
Milwaukee will not have a secondround pick regardless of its record, as it will either go to the Phoenix Suns as part of the Bledsoe trade or the Brooklyn Nets as part of the trade for Tyler Zeller. The Bucks’ first-round pick, though, is protected — meaning it will be kept — if the team’s pick is between Nos. 1-10 or 17-30.
Since they’re projected to make the playoffs, the Bucks won’t be in the lottery (pick Nos. 1-14), but as of now the bottom two spots in the East are in line for pick Nos. 15 and 16. If the standings stay the same, Milwaukee’s first-round pick will convey to the Suns as part of the Bledsoe trade, leaving the Bucks with none as they prepare to move to their new arena.