NBA Power Rankings Week 19: April review and the rising Phoenix Suns

6. Milwaukee Bucks

Last Week: Lost to Atlanta Hawks 111-104, Beat Charlotte Hornets 114104, Lost to Houston Rockets 143-136, Beat Chicago Bulls 108-98

This Week: 5/2 vs. Brooklyn Nets, 5/4 vs. Brooklyn Nets, 5/5 vs. Washington Wizards, 5/7 vs. Houston Rockets

The Milwaukee Bucks are wrapping up an average month where they went 8-7 and maintained the three seed without much issue but also never pushed for the top of the conference. Much of this can be forgiven when considering that Giannis Antetokounmpo only played in nine of the games, but even then they just won five of those.

At some point, it has to be acknowledged that perhaps this is not all experimenting and maybe the team is in fact worse this season. Many have postulated that this regular season has finally been coach Mike Budenholzer’s attempt to things and the results were expected to be mixed given the consistent amount of change. Perhaps that is still the case. But the alternative may also be true.

The question has to be asked: what if the Milwaukee Bucks miss out on the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season. They have already locked themselves into a tough path to the Finals, given that they will have to go up against both the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers just to get a chance. None of this is supposed to be easy but the Bucks have made it harder on themselves than they should have.