The Milwaukee Bucks are quietly rising in the Eastern Conference standings as they round into championship-contending shape.
With the way the Milwaukee Bucks started the season, it was easy to jump to the conclusion that the end was near for their championship aspiration. However, over the last few weeks, the Bucks have looked like a completely different team. The Bucks have turned their season around and have quietly begun to play more and more like a championship contender.
In their last 15 games specifically, the Bucks are 12-3 (tied for the best record in the league over that span) and are playing their best basketball of the season. They are also one of only three teams in the league that have a top-10 ranked offense, defense, and net rating over the past 15 games. Perhaps most importantly, Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo are truly beginning to click as a duo. Individually, Lillard's overall production and efficiency numbers are also up this year compared to last season.
As much as naysayers want to harp on how the team started the season, the Bucks have been this team for longer than they were a bad team at the beginning of the year. After all the noise surrounding their 2-8 start to the season, the Bucks are just one game back (in the loss column) of the New York Knicks for the third seed in the East.
It was foolish to count out the Milwaukee Bucks
Even with their slow start to the season, it was probably foolish to count the Bucks out so early in the season. With as much talent as they have on their roster, it was going to be impossible for the Bucks to not at least have one hot streak at some point this year. And now that Khris Middleton is slowly making his way back into the swing of things, the team is going to have a greater opportunity to play even better basketball down the stretch.
Considering how wide-open the Eastern Conference looks at the moment, aside from the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers (who have been good but not unbeatable), the Bucks should feel good about where they are at this point in the season. This team has not played its best basketball yet and has successfully climbed out of its early-season hole.
This could be a pretty big assumption but if the Bucks have another level of play they can get to before the start of the playoffs, there's reason to believe that Milwaukee is a legitimate championship contender in the East. If they can remain healthy, this is a team that has the talent to compete with any team in the conference - even the Celtics or Cavs. All of a sudden, very quietly, the Bucks are beginning to look more and more like a team that could surprise the masses and win a championship this season. With their disastrous start to the year, who could've seen that coming?