Milwaukee Bucks Become First Team In NBA To Clinch Playoff Berth
Defeating the Phoenix Suns 116-104 in Phoenix on Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks not only became the first team to reach 50 wins this season, but they also became the first team to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
The Bucks are one of the most complete teams in the entire league this year and they showed off their depth around Giannis Antetokounmpo against the Suns, who are a great team in their own right.
Without Khris Middleton in this game, Jae Crowder and Bobby Portis each stepped up with 11 points off-the-bench, as Brook Lopez continued his recent stretch of dominance at the center position with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished the night with a game-high 36 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, one steal and one block.
This season, the Bucks have six different players averaging double-digit points per game and their depth goes beyond those six players with experienced veterans such as Pat Connaughton, Jae Crowder, Joe Ingles and recently signed big man Meyers Leonard.
They are a deadly three-point shooting team and defensively, the Bucks are as good as they come with Lopez anchoring things in the frontcourt alongside Antetokounmpo.
Following this win over Phoenix, Milwaukee is now three full games ahead of the Boston Celtics for the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference with 13 games remaining on their schedule. The Bucks and Celtics have split their two meetings against one another this season and they will play each other again on March 30.
It appears as if the Eastern Conference will once again run through Milwaukee and this season, the Bucks will be an extremely tough team to stop in a seven-game series.
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