Milwaukee Bucks: Five X-Factors for the team to succeed in NBA’s Orlando restart

X-Factor No. 5: Milwaukee can’t play down to their opponents

Every point that I’ve brought up ultimately comes down to this theme. If the Bucks can’t uphold the standard they’ve set in this historic season, they’re going to end up sorely disappointed. Of course, the conventions are different and living inside of a bubble adds an unanticipated layer to their pursuit of a title, but at the end of the day, it’s still basketball.

Milwaukee has managed to let teams shoot threes at a higher rate than most of their opponents and are middle-of-the-pack in terms of opponent 3-point percentage. However, they make up for it by packing the paint and holding opponents to only 54.9 percent near the rim, which is four percent better than the second-ranked Toronto Raptors.

Playing to their strengths and sticking to what’s worked all year is going to play into the Bucks’ favor as they pursue Milwaukee’s first title since 1971. They’re a succinct team that has a cornerstone to rely on, one of the game’s most underrated wings in Khris Middleton and a full rotation of unique players who can step up in spots.

As far as the competition goes, there’s no other star in the Eastern Conference that poses a threat as big as Giannis does. While Jayson Tatum and Pascal Siakam have hit another level, they’ve both suffered through peaks and valleys in the postseason. Neither is close to as proven as Giannis is while the other top stars — Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker and Ben Simmons — are all either too inexperienced in the playoffs or have had breakdowns in big moments.

Milwaukee has done a good job against almost all of its potential competition. The only team they’ve struggled with is the Miami Heat because Bam Adebayo makes for a formidable opponent to Giannis and their shooters take advantage of the fact that the Bucks give up a lot of threes. Even with that being the case, Budenholzer has a chance to shake the basketball world’s preconceptions of him by taking control of that matchup if the two teams meet in the postseason.

This is an unprecedented opportunity for the Milwaukee Bucks. There’s never been a season like the one we’re living through right now and if they can break through to win it in spite of the circumstances, their names will be etched into NBA history with one of the greatest stories we could imagine.

There are a lot of factors at play, but let’s not forget — Milwaukee is still the favorite to win it all.