Race for top seed in the East
Milwaukee Bucks: 43-14, 13 home/12 away, .472 (26th in the NBA)
Toronto Raptors: 43-16, 12 home/11 away, .450 (30th in the NBA)
This could be the most important race in the NBA as the Toronto Raptors trail the Milwaukee Bucks by one game entering Thursday’s action. The team that gets the top seed would have home court should the Bucks and Raptors meet in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bucks are 23-5 at home this season and the Raptors are 24-5.
Both teams have easier schedules and both have more home games remaining then away games. The Bucks do have two more games remaining than Toronto and the Raptors have a slightly easier schedule down the stretch.
Should these two teams meet up in the playoffs, that series would likely go seven games and that would make the top seed’s home court a major factor. In the event of a tie, the Bucks won the season series with Toronto by winning three of the four meetings. It seems very likely that this playoff race won’t be decided until the season’s final week.