Can the Milwaukee Bucks playoff run this year help them to etch their place as one of the top NBA franchises this quarter century?
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Milwaukee has posted a league-best regular season of 362-159 (.656), an average of 51 wins per year. The 362 wins are four more than Boston and 14 more than Denver. The Bucks have reached the postseason in the past six years and seven straight overall.
However, Milwaukee has often fallen short of expectations in the postseason more often than not recently. This has occurred despite having one of the more transformational players of this generation, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee has just one playoff series victory since winning the franchise’s second NBA title in 2021 and seven over the last seven years. The Bucks became the sixth No. 1 seed in NBA history to fall to an eighth seed last season when the Miami Heat defeated them in five games. The Bucks are the only one of these top seeds to win only one game in their series.
To show Antetokounmpo that they weren’t done trying to win a championship, the Bucks kept their core together by re-signing Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez last offseason. The Bucks then made the biggest splash by trading for Damian Lillard.
While Milwaukee has been shaky for much of this season, the Bucks are playoff-bound for the eighth straight year. With three games remaining, the Bucks appear destined to capture their sixth consecutive Central Division crown and bound to be a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference.
Milwaukee sits in second place in the Eastern Conference at 48-31. Milwaukee leads New York by one game and is two games ahead of Orlando and Cleveland. Two of the Bucks’ final three games are against Orlando, while their other remaining contest is against Oklahoma City.
So, Milwaukee appears to be in a solid position to make a long playoff run this year. On Monday, Milwaukee defeated Boston 104-91 to even the season series with the East’s top-seeded Celtics at 2-2.
Before making any basketball betting picks on the Bucks, consider that they have advanced past the first round just five times in 15 postseason appearances this century.
Top Milwaukee Bucks Playoff Runs in the 2000s
2020-21 Won NBA Finals
Milwaukee’s second NBA championship came a season after the COVID-19 Bubble campaign. The Bucks went 46-26 during the regular season and finished third in the Eastern Conference.
The Milwaukee Bucks playoff run began by sweeping sixth-seeded Miami 4-0. After winning the season opener by two points, the Bucks won the final three by an average of 26.6.
The second round didn’t start out very well for the Bucks as they dropped the first two games in the series against the No. 2 Nets in Brooklyn. The Bucks evened the series by winning both games in Milwaukee but fell in Game 5 by six.
Milwaukee forced a Game 7 with a 15-win victory and then advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a 115-111 overtime victory in Brooklyn. The Bucks outscored the Nets 6-2 in the extra five minutes. The Bucks scored all six points over the final 1:12 of the extra stanza. Antetokounmpo scored at least 30 points in six of the seven contests, tossing in 40 in the final game.
The Bucks reached their third NBA Finals appearance by defeating the upstart Atlanta Hawks, which was seeded fifth, in six games despite being without Antetokounmpo for the series’ final two contests.
As had been the case in their final three Eastern Conference series, Milwaukee fell behind against Phoenix in the NBA Finals, losing the first two games—each by double digits. But the Bucks bounced back in Game 3, winning by 20 and then taking each of the next three by single digits in a remarkable Milwaukee Bucks playoff run.
Antetokounmpo earned Finals MVP as he registered five double-doubles. Antetokounmpo topped the 40-point plateau three times, including a 50-burger in the series-clinching Game 6 victory.
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2000-01 Eastern Conference Finals
The first season of Y2K was the Bucks’ finest in over a decade. That year, Milwaukee won 52 games and won its first division title for the first time since the mid-1980s. The Bucks were led by Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, Ray Allen, and Sam Cassell.
The Bucks, the No. 2 seed, defeated Tracy McGrady and the No. 7 Orlando Magic 3-1 in the opening round.
The second round was much tougher against sixth-seed Charlotte. The Bucks took the first two games and then lost three straight. The Bucks won the final two games, 104-97 and 105-94, marking the two highest-scoring games of the series.
Milwaukee lost to the Allen Iverson-led top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in a classic, hard-fought series. Each team won once on the road, and four games were decided by single digits.
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2018-19 Eastern Conference Finals
Mike Budenholzer’s arrival in Milwaukee in 2018 instantly changed the Bucks’ fortunes. The Bucks earned the Eastern Conference top seed as they went 60-22 in coach Bud’s initial season, winning their first division crown since their NBA Finals run.
Milwaukee Bucks playoff run ran roughshod through the first two series, sweeping No. 8 seed Detroit (4-0) and then defeating No. 4 Boston (4-1). All eight of the wins were by seven or more points, with seven being by double-digits.
The Bucks entered the conference finals feeling good about themselves. The Bucks took a 2-0 lead over Kawhi Leonard and the No. 2 Toronto Raptors. However, the Raptors won the next four games, three of them by six points, to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
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2021-22 Eastern Conference Semifinals
The Bucks won 51 games in 2021-22 and entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed. They dispatched the Chicago Bulls in five games in the opening round, and the final three wins were by double-figures.
Milwaukee took a 3-2 series lead in their semifinals clash with second-seeded Boston, following a come-from-behind 110-107 win in Beantown. Antokounmpko tallied 40 points, marking his third straight game of 34 or more. The Bucks outscored the Celtics 33-21 in the final stanza.
However, the Celtics won the final two games in the series by at least 13.
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2019-20 Eastern Conference Semifinals
The Bucks bounced back nicely from their disappointing Eastern Conference finals loss to Toronto, winning 56 games to give them 116 victories in Budenholzer’s first two campaigns – their most since 1984-86, when they also totaled 116 wins.
The 2020 NBA and Milwaukee Bucks playoff run occurred entirely in a “bubble” in Orlando due to COVID-19.
Earning the Eastern Conference’s top seed, Milwaukee opened the 2020 playoff with a dud performance, falling to No. 8 Orlando 122-110. The Bucks followed up that opening game loss with four straight double-digit wins to advance to the conference semifinals.
Milwaukee lost the first three games of the semifinals to No. 5 Miami. The Bucks won Game 4 in overtime, but Antetokounmpo suffered a sprained right ankle in the second quarter. Antetokounmpo sat out Game 5, and the Bucks’ season ended.
