With 19 games left in the regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks are all eyes on the championship. The team is coming off of a hot streak, winning six of their last seven games, and continues their upward trend.
However, even though they seem to be on fire right now, many believe that the Bucks don’t pose any threat heading into the postseason; Charles Barkley shared an interesting take on how Milwaukee matches up in the Eastern Conference.
Are the Milwaukee Bucks a Threat?
A notable Bucks supporter, Barkley seems to have a bit of skepticism this time around about where the Bucks stand in the East this season. He believes that the Boston Celtics are the only team to worry about within the conference.
“Other than the Celtics, there’s not a single team in the East that scares you,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA on Thursday. His co-hosts were a little shocked at this revelation, seeing as Milwaukee has two dominant players in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard on their roster.
“[The Bucks have] Giannis and Dame, but nobody fears them because they don’t have a lot of athletic ability. So no…The East is up for grabs, other than the Celtics.”
“Other than the Celtics, there’s not a single team in the East that scares you. … [The Bucks have] Giannis and Dame but nobody fears them because they don’t have a lot of athletic ability.”
Chuck on the Eastern Conference playoff race pic.twitter.com/Jb0ZCfFRRc
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 8, 2024
Since the All-Star Break, the Milwaukee Bucks hold the third best record, sitting at 6-1, but are sitting seven and a half games behind the Celtics, who hold a 48-15 record on the season. Barkley expressed that if the Celtics don’t win the championship, it would be a total fluke.
Best records since the All-Star Break:
7-1 — Nuggets
7-1 — Magic
6-1 — Bucks
6-2 — Thunder pic.twitter.com/UjujYk6YPk— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 8, 2024
“If [the Celtics] don’t win a championship this year, it would be a total gag job. They’ve got everything. You’ve got [Jaylen] Brown, and [Jayson] Tatum, you’ve got two of the ten best players in the league, probably…I will be shocked if the Celtics don’t win,” Barkley boldly said.
Moving forward, the Bucks schedule just continues to get tougher. In their remaining 19 games, the Milwaukee Bucks are set to face a handful of above .500 teams. Coach Doc Rivers mentioned last week that he wants to close out the season healthy.
“I’d rather close the season having clinched everything a month in advance. That’s what I’d rather have, but that’s not going to happen. You know, it’s funny, I just want to close the season healthy, number one. And then us understanding how we have to play to win games.”
The best thing for the Bucks to do at this point is to be prepared for any scenario that is thrown in their direction.
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