Bucks hope regular-season obstacles help them in postseason

Updated Feb. 15, 2021 5:43 p.m. ET

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks knew when they overhauled their roster that they might pay a short-term price for their attempt to improve their postseason fortunes.

Sure enough, Milwaukee enters an eight-game home stretch well off the pace it established while posting the league’s best record each of the last two regular seasons. The Bucks ended a six-game road swing with three straight losses, dropping their record to 16-11. At this point last season,

“At the end of the day, there’s going to be ups and downs to the season,” two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said Sunday night after the

Indeed, owning the NBA’s No. 1 overall seed

The Bucks made their offseason moves with an eye on performing their best in the postseason as they chase their first NBA title since 1971. Only five of the 14 players who appeared in a playoff game for the Bucks last season remain with the team.

The top of their roster is tougher now that

Their 16-11 record is tied with San Antonio for seventh best in the league. The Bucks remain very much in contention for the top seed in the East, where

Milwaukee could boost its record during this prolonged homestand that begins Tuesday against the Raptors. Even without fans at their home games, the Bucks are 9-2 in Milwaukee and just 7-9 on the road.

“No doubt it’s going to be good to get back home and play at Fiserv Forum and be back with our families, back in kind of our comfort zone,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “But we can’t just rely on that. We’re going to have to play better and get ready to go.”

The biggest issue thus far is on defense.

the

Charlotte, Miami and New Orleans are the only teams

“We have stretches where we look really good defensively and I think we have stretches where we don’t look really good defensively,” guard Donte DiVincenzo said. “I think those stretches stem from just a little bit of miscommunications on coverages, but it comes down to playing hard.”

The Bucks don’t appear to have as much overall depth after all these changes. That might not matter much in the playoffs when teams go to shorter rotations, but it can be a major factor in the regular season.

For instance, Holiday has missed the Bucks’ last four games as part of the NBA’s health and safety protocols in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.

“He’s a player that can do it all,” Middleton said. “We’ve definitely missed him these past couple of games.”

The Bucks remain confident they have what it takes to contend for a title. They rank behind only Brooklyn in

“We’ve got to keep getting better, got to keep playing good basketball and building good habits, but we’re definitely used to one another,” Antetokounmpo said. “Hopefully, as we move forward, we can keep playing good basketball, keep getting better and peak at the right time – peak at the right moment.”

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