NBA Power Rankings Week 20: What history will Milwaukee Bucks make?
By Phil Watson
team. 89. . 51-8. Previous: . Milwaukee Bucks.
Last week: Won at Washington 137-134 (OT), won at Toronto 108-97, beat Oklahoma City 133-86
This week: Sunday at Charlotte, Monday at Miami, Wednesday vs. Indiana, Friday at Lakers
As alluded to at the beginning of this feature, the Milwaukee Bucks are in elite company in terms of wins and losses through the first 59 games of the season. They’ve won five straight overall after a 3-0 week and 10 of their last 11 (and 19 of 21 if we want to keep reaching back).
Milwaukee managed to survive an overtime win at Washington the night before a visit to Toronto in a rematch of last season’s bitterly disappointing (for the Bucks, at any rate) Eastern Conference Finals matchup. They have a couple of tough road games this week, visiting Miami and the Lakers.
more nba. Tatum making late climb up MIP ladder. light
The Heat beat the Bucks in Milwaukee the first time they met this season, coming back from 21 points down to take a 131-126 overtime win on Oct. 26. That left the Bucks 1-1, one of just two times all season they’ve been at .500 (they were 2-2 following an Oct. 30 loss at Boston before running off a 22-1 stretch).
Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to play like a guy who wants to power his way to a second straight MVP trophy without giving a passing glance to the competition. He averaged 24.3 points, 15.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in 30.0 minutes per game in the three games last week, shooting 56.5 percent overall and hitting 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
dark. Next. The 50 greatest NBA players of all time (updated for 2018-19)
Perhaps even more important to the Bucks, he was a very solid 81.0 percent on 7.0 free throw attempts a night, raising his mark on the season to 62.2 percent, still a career-low. Antetokounmpo put up 32 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in just 27 minutes in the rout of the Thunder on Friday.