OKLAHOMA CITY — On Friday, before the Milwaukee Bucks took the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in their penultimate game of the 2023-24 regular season, head coach Doc Rivers introduced the rest of the team’s season in relatively simple terms.
“Look, we’d like to have the two seeds — we have to win a game,” Rivers said. “So, it’s in play. But let’s say on Sunday, if Dame wasn’t right, we’re not going to play him. Otherwise, something is going on there and you’ll be in a lot of trouble. We want both seeds. There is no doubt about it. But we also want to be healthy.
So, with Damian Lillard out for Friday’s game with a left adductor strain and Giannis Antetokounmpo still out with a left soleus strain, the Bucks tried to get their win to secure the No. 2 seed without their two best players. Earlier in the day, Khris Middleton (left ankle injury management), Brook Lopez (rest) and Bobby Portis (rest) also found themselves on the injury report, but all three ended up playing Friday night.
With 8:29 left in the second quarter, Middleton capped a 7-0 run for the Bucks with a floater out of a pseudo-post-up to bring them within four points of the Thunder and trigger a Thunder timeout. coach Mark Daigneault, but it was the final sequence of the game that seemed to suggest the Bucks could beat the Thunder on Friday.
From that point on, the Thunder closed the first half on a 22-9 run and took a 17-point halftime lead before ultimately beating the Bucks, 125-107, to take find themselves in a three-way tie at the top of the Western Conference with one game to play. for every team in the league on Sunday.
“At first I thought we were pretty good,” Rivers said after the game. “I thought in the second quarter too many guys were making plays that shouldn’t be trying to make plays and we turned the ball over.
“In the first quarter I thought the ball movement (was good), we played downhill a lot, we played through our bigs, we moved the ball, it was good basketball. Then it seemed like guys, everyone was trying to make plays and it just wasn’t who most of them were. But, you know, we had a good burn. We loved winning, but we wanted to lose a few minutes and we did.
Without their two primary ball handlers, the Bucks struggled to take care of the ball and committed 12 turnovers in the first half. It was just too much for the Bucks against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Middleton scored 11 points in the first three minutes of the third quarter to give the Thunder a scare, but Rivers moved to his team’s deep reserves with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Middleton finished the night with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 23 minutes to lead the Bucks. Brook Lopez also added 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while Malik Beasley scored 17 points, including three of his five attempts from the 3-point line, but after the first 16 minutes the Bucks never really threatened Thunder.
With this loss, the Bucks now turn their attention to Sunday.
On Sunday, just like Friday, all 30 teams will compete after a day off on Saturday to keep the teams lined up and allow all 30 to play either at 12:00 p.m. CT or 2:30 p.m. CT.
The Bucks are currently 49-32 this season. They have the same record as the New York Knicks, but the Bucks have the tiebreaker so, at the moment, they are currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Owning the tiebreaker with the Knicks (49-32) means the Bucks could make their playoff seeding incredibly easy to determine if they win on Sunday.
If the Bucks beat the Orlando Magic on Sunday, the Bucks will be the No. 2 seed.
“I have to win, it’s that simple,” Middleton said of Sunday’s game. “We tried to win this game, even though we were shorthanded. It’s the same on Sunday: try to win.
However, if the Bucks lose, things get a lot messier and they open themselves up to a series of different events that could affect their Eastern Conference playoff spot. Losing would not only leave the Bucks likely to fall to the No. 3 seed, they could fall all the way to No. 4 because of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers (48-33) are one game behind the Bucks, but own the tiebreaker because of their division record.
If the Bucks lose, here are the different outcomes that could occur:
- If the Knicks and Cavaliers also lose, the Bucks remain the No. 2 seed.
- If the Knicks win and the Cavaliers lose, the Bucks fall to the No. 3 seed.
- If the Knicks lose and the Cavaliers win, the Bucks fall to third.
- If the Knicks and Cavaliers both win, the Bucks fall to fourth.
And that’s just the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Heading into the final day of the season, four teams – Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat – could fill any of the Nos. 5-8 seeds in the East, meaning that the Bucks have no idea who their first-round opponent will be.
“Scouting nightmare,” Rivers said after the game Friday. “We know we will be between two and four. We know it. It’s a certainty. Other than that, we don’t know anything… The good news is that whatever happens, we’ll be home for the first game. We know that.
After seeing the Bucks drop a first-round series against the Miami Heat as a No. 1 seed last season, there will be a segment of Bucks fans who will worry about the Bucks’ first-round matchup and attempt to suggest the Bucks should try to win or lose on Sunday to try to set up a game against a specific opponent. However, that doesn’t even really seem possible, considering anything could happen with the Nos. 5-8 seeds in the East.
The players, however, know that trying to plan such a thing or play a certain way to try to set up a certain match would be foolish.
“You’re going to play someone good in the playoffs no matter what,” Middleton said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the first round, the second round, the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals. There is no easy path. We’ve learned it in the past, winning it and losing it, so we just have to prepare ourselves to face everyone we face.
On Sunday, the Bucks will find out what their potential path to a championship will be, but only after they suit up and play the Magic.
(Photo by Khris Middleton and Lu Dort: Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)