Giannis, Bucks must maintain success vs. Curry's Warriors, LeBron's Lakers

Milwaukee is heading to the west coast to face off against Golden State and Los Angeles.

Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly drives for the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks are feeling the effect of having Giannis Antetokounmpo back in the lineup.

The team is 4-1 since the Greek Freak made his return, and the team is clicking on all cylinders all of a sudden. Antetokounmpo's return has the Bucks moving up three spots in NBA.com writer John Schuhmann's power rankings from No. 25 to 22.

"The Bucks are 4-1 in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s five games back, but it’s been the easiest five-game stretch of schedule that they’ll face all season," Schuhmann wrote.

"The schedule now gets much tougher. If the Bucks are going to get back in the SoFi Play-In  Tournament picture in the East, they’ll have to win some more games against the West. Their win in Sacramento on Sunday began a stretch where they’re playing nine of 10 games against the opposite conference, with seven of their next eight against West teams with winning records."

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo during the game against the Washington Wizards. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Bucks success may not be sustainable

The teams ranked below the Bucks in the power rankings are the Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers. However, those opponents aren't going to be the ones appearing on the Bucks schedule in the next couple of weeks.

It remains to be seen if the Bucks can handle teams that are ahead of them in the standings, but they are willing to do what it takes to try and make sure that becomes a reality. Doc Rivers is willing to make some lineup changes, which could affect where the Bucks end up in the standings.

"The opponents have been the Bulls, Hornets (x 2), Wizards and Kings. The loss came against Washington on Wednesday, when Antetokounmpo missed an uncontested jumper for the win. The Bucks scored just six points on 13 clutch possessions in the loss and their star has shot just 2-for-13 from outside the paint over his five games back," Schuhmann wrote.

"They were much better down the stretch (17 points on 11 clutch possessions) against the Hornets two nights later, with a quick-action, empty-corner dribble-handoff setting up Antetokounmpo for the go-ahead dunk with 4.7 seconds left. They closed that game with Kyle Kuzma on the floor instead of Myles Turner and Antetokounmpo at the five, but the two-time MVP has played just eight of his 635 total minutes without Turner, Bobby Portis or Jericho Sims also on the floor."

The Bucks will now head out on the road for a three-game trip on the West Coast against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets without Nikola Jokic.