The Milwaukee Bucks are No. 1 in the NBA Power Rankings for the 4th straight week and are riding an 18-game winning streak. A showdown with the Lakers looms.
The Milwaukee Bucks remain at the top of the NBA Power Rankings, their fourth straight week in the top spot. Considering they haven’t lost for more than a month now — since a 103-100 defeat at Utah on Nov. 8 — it makes sense that the Bucks, winners of 18 straight games, top the list.
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Behind them by a half-game in the standings and second place in the Power Rankings are the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that has lost just once since Nov. 10.
And as luck (and a bit of foresight when setting up the national TV schedule) would have it, the Bucks will host the Lakers at Fiserv Forum on Thursday night in the first game of a TNT doubleheader.
It’s been a long time since the Bucks vs. the Lakers carried this much meaning, to be honest. While Thursday’s matchup shapes up as a (*** CLICHE ALERT ***) potential NBA Finals preview, you have to go back nearly 50 years to find a time when these two teams were at each other’s throats this closely.
Milwaukee and L.A. split Western Conference Finals victories in 1971 and 1972, with each team going on to win the NBA title. The Bucks took out the Lakers in five games in 1971; the Lakers returned the favor with a six-game victory in 1972, the season L.A. set NBA records of 33 straight wins (which still stands) and 69 victories in a single season (bested twice since).
That, of course, throws back to the halcyon days of the rivalry between the old superstar (Wilt Chamberlain) and the new one (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Not dissimilar to the Lakers and the Bucks now featuring the old superstar (LeBron James) and the new one (Giannis Antetokounmpo).
What the Power Rankings also show is that the wide-open season so many predicted has played out that way … sort of. Eleven teams have winning percentages of .650 or higher, with six of those over the .700 mark and Milwaukee and Los Angeles playing at nearly a .900 pace.
But on the other end of that are 17 teams that are below the .500 mark, with six of those at worst than a .300 clip and one — the Golden State Warriors of all teams — below the .200 level.
Within the season’s first eight weeks, there have already been three winning streaks that have reached double digits. The Boston Celtics ran off 10 straight victories from Oct. 25-Nov. 15, the Lakers won 10 in a row from Nov. 12-29 and now the Bucks are at 18 consecutive wins, a streak that began on Nov. 10.
Conversely, there have also been three streaks of 10 losses or more. The New Orleans Pelicans’ current streak of 11 straight defeats is the longest of the season thus far, while the Atlanta Hawks dropped 10 in a row from Nov. 14-30 and the New York Knicks fell 10 straight times from Nov. 20-Dec. 10.
There are more contenders than we’ve seen in recent years — there is almost zero chance of the Warriors reaching a sixth consecutive NBA FInals — but there is still a very clearly defined top tier, bottom tier and the dreaded middle. Ten teams as of this point are in that .400-.599 winning percentage range, exactly one-third of the league.
So there’s a bit more parity, but nothing to remind of the late 1970s, a time when there was a 44-win NBA champion and a streak of four straight seasons (1975-76 through 1978-79) when there was not a single team that reached 60 wins.
The way the Milwaukee Bucks are playing, they seem as if they might get to 60 wins by March 6. That’s the night of their 63rd game and, coincidentally enough, the night they make the return trip to Los Angeles for their second and final regular-season meeting with the Lakers.
With that, we jump into the countdown.
Last week: Lost to Memphis 110-102, lost to New York 124-122 (OT), lost at Utah 114-106
This week: Sunday vs. Sacramento, Wednesday at Portland, Friday vs. New Orleans
The Golden State Warriors found different ways to lose last week, so that’s something. Against the Grizzlies, they didn’t lead after the 9:53 mark of the first quarter before Memphis went on a 9-0 run and never trailed again. Against the Knicks, Golden State came back from 22 down to force overtime … and then lost. And in Utah Friday, the Warriors got up by 13 before the el foldo.
Alec Burks continues to be something Golden State can rely on, last week averaging 20.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals in 31.0 minutes per game, working off the bench twice and starting at Utah. He shot 51.3 percent overall and was a solid 5-for-12 from 3-point range. Burks also dropped all 15 of his free throws and is 10th in the NBA at 89.7 percent on the season.