Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an interesting team. They actually are measured quite poorly when it comes to the NBA’s advanced stats. Thus, the only reason why they managed to make this list is that they qualified by having one superstar (Giannis Antetokounmpo) and two high-level stars, which equals one superstar (Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, and a top-10 net rating and top-5 defense.
It’s the team’s defense that has gotten them by so far this season and recently, as they’ve gotten more and more healthy, this is a team that has really taken off. You can make the argument that the Bucks are currently the hottest team in the league. So much so that they are beginning to pull away from the Boston Celtics atop the Eastern Conference standings.
The Bucks have won 19 of their last 21 games, which included a 16-game winning streak, and are now two games ahead of the Celtics (three in the loss column) with just 18 games remaining in the regular season.
Milwaukee is hitting its stride at just the right time and could very well end up winning the championship this season.