Milwaukee Bucks’ Play-In Tournament Rooting Guide

The Milwaukee Bucks went on a torrid run over the second half of the NBA season to secure the league’s best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. They are rewarded with a week off while their potential first-round opponents battle it out for the right to graduate from the play-in tournament to the playoffs.

The play-in tournament has existed for four years already, but it may still be foreign to some Bucks’ fans. During that time, Milwaukee has perched near the top of the Eastern Conference standings and has yet to dabble anywhere close to qualifying for the tournament.

I’ll break down how the tournament works, rank the potential first-round opponents for the Bucks, and share when Milwaukee will play their next game. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Play-In Tournament

The four teams making up the Eastern Conference bracket are the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls. Milwaukee could end up playing any of them as the no. 8 seed.

Here’s how the tournament will play out:

• Game 1: Hawks at Heat on Tuesday, April 11th. Winner gets the 7th seed and plays the Boston Celtics.
• Game 2: Bulls at Raptors on Wednesday, April 12th. Loser is eliminated.
• Winner of Game 2 at Loser of Game 1 on Friday, April 14th. Winner gets the 8th seed and plays the Bucks.

Ranking Potential First-Round Opponents

So, who do we want the Bucks to play? I ranked the four opponents based on how favorable the matchup with Milwaukee will be. Let’s start with the easiest and work our way to the hardest.

Chicago Bulls

Bucks’ fans should be cheering for two road wins from the Bulls during this competition, setting up the easiest first-round matchup.

Chicago actually beat Milwaukee twice this year, and sports the fifth-best defensive rating, according to Cleaning the Glass. Chicago’s defense has been excellent over the second half of the season, leading them to a 12-8 record in March and April.

However, they don’t have enough offensive threats to scare Milwaukee about an upset. The Bucks have more defensive options than ever before when it comes to guarding DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. They can throw Jrue Holiday, Wesley Matthews, Jae Crowder and even Khris Middleton at the dynamic Bulls duo. Despite Chicago’s improved defense, they don’t have nearly as many good options to slow down the Bucks.

It took Milwaukee just five games to dispatch the Bulls in the first round last year, and it should happen even quicker this time around.

Rooting Interest: Win both games.

Toronto Raptors

Many Bucks’ fans are still worried about the Raptors from the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals. However, this would be a great time to exorcise some demons and move on from the postseason collapse.

The Bucks went 3-1 against them this season, with their lone loss coming in Sunday’s season finalé. All the games were close, too. The Raptors have a unique team that could continue to keep the games close and potentially even steal a victory. However, Milwaukee matches up well with all of the Raptors’ best players and would make things even more difficult for them.

Rooting Interest: Lose first game (but win both games as the second option).

Atlanta Hawks

Despite the teams splitting the four-game series, Atlanta has given Milwaukee trouble this season.

Trae Young and Dejounte Murray have the tools to punish the Bucks’ drop scheme. They can live in that mid-range/floater area and hit those consistently. When Brook Lopez comes out of the drop coverage, they have the tools to throw lobs to their big men by the hoop or find other shooters around them.

Defensively, Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu and John Collins aren’t afraid to battle with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo has praised them in the past and they’ve given him some fits this season.

Theoretically, Atlanta has the tools to upset Milwaukee if they aren’t locked in and focused on the game plan. The Hawks would represent a problematic first-round opponent, testing the Bucks one way or another.

Rooting Interest: Win first game and lose the second.

Miami Heat

This would be the worst-case scenario for the Bucks, but even then they would be heavily favored in a first-round series against the Heat.

Miami took the first two games in the regular season series before the Bucks made a key schematic change and took the last two games. That change? Putting Giannis Antetokounmpo on Jimmy Butler. Only 10 percent of Butler’s shots came from the three-point line this season, allowing Antetokounmpo to roam and help on other players. Antetokounmpo could also use his size and strength advantage to bother Butler when he did try to attack the paint.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is one of the best coaches in the NBA and would have a couple of tricks up his sleeve if these two teams meet. Milwaukee should win a first-round series, but Miami is, by far, the most talented of the play-in tournament.

Rooting Interest: Win first game or lose both.

When the Bucks Play

With the play-in tournament wrapping up on Friday, Milwaukee’s first game won’t be until Sunday. Times are still to be determined.