Milwaukee Bucks have officially put the entire NBA on notice

The league’s best defense combined with potential MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is the Milwaukee Bucks recipe for a title run.

Let’s get this out of the way first.  Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics was a fluke. It was not reflective of either team.  Not even close. Ignore the lazy rhetoric from overpaid analysts and talking heads on sports radio.

Had any of them done their job following Game 1, they would have realized it was nothing more than the luck of the Irish. They could have easily predicted the throttling that was about to take place in Games 2 and 3 with the Bucks cruising to back-to-back victories. More importantly, they would understand what’s coming in the next six weeks.

During the regular season, the Bucks had three games where they shot worse than 37 percent. They had four games where they allowed opponents to shoot 52 percent or better. Game 1 was the only time all year both occurred in the same game. Fluke!

The Milwaukee Bucks aren’t going anywhere. The Golden State Warriors own beat writer acknowledges they are the one team the Warriors don’t want to see in June.

Potential MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo grabs the headlines for doing things we’ve never witnessed. However, his performance stands so tall that it overshadows the Bucks historically elite defense.

The Bucks had the best defensive rating in the league this year. Opponents converted only 43.3 percent of their shots against the Bucks, the lowest mark in the NBA (and the lowest allowed by any team over the last three seasons). Nobody else was even close. The difference between the Bucks and the next best team was the same difference between the 7th and 16th best teams.

The Milwaukee Bucks defense also led the league allowing the fewest points in the paint, fast break points, and made free throws.  Additionally, they finished with the second most blocks, committed the third-fewest fouls per defensive play, and allowed the fifth-fewest second-chance points.

Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving received all the love following Game 1 after knocking down 12 of his 21 shots leading to a game-high 26 points. Categorize this as a fluke as well. In his other five games against the Bucks this season, he has made only 38 of his 107 shot attempts scoring a meager 0.96 points per shot. Worse, the Celtics have been outscored by 38 points when he is on the court in those five games.

Even including his Game 1 performance, his totals against the Bucks this year are brutal. On the season, Irving made 46.5 percent of his shots while scoring 1.26 points per shot. Against the Bucks, those numbers fall to a paltry 39.1 percent and 1.01 respectively.

Irving isn’t the only superstar the Bucks have throttled. A closer look at the star players remaining in the playoffs reveals a disturbing trend that should terrify everyone outside of Milwaukee.

Kevin Durant:
2018-19 Season: 52.1% shooting and 1.47 points per shot
vs. Bucks: 31.0% and 0.97

Stephen Curry:
Season: 47.2% and 1.41
vs. Bucks: 38.7% and 0.97

James Harden:
Season: 44.2% and 1.47
vs. Bucks: 39.3% and 1.16

Damian Lillard:
Season: 44.4% and 1.34
vs. Bucks: 37.0% and 1.30

Joel Embiid:
Season: 48.1% and 1.47
vs. Bucks: 41.8% and 1.21

Kawhi Leonard:
Season: 49.6% and 1.41
vs. Bucks: 42.6% and 1.22

In 20 games (one-fourth of an entire season) against these seven superstars, the Bucks have pummeled them into rubble. In their games vs. the Bucks, these players have combined to shoot a miserable 39.4 percent while scoring only 1.11 points per shot attempt. To provide some context, below are three players with similar comps based on their 2018-19 full-season statistics:

Justin Holliday: 38.6% and 1.11

Josh Okogie: 38.6% and 1.12

Wayne Selden Jr.: 40.6% and 1.08

The Bucks have essentially reduced Irving, Durant, Curry, Harden, Lillard, Embiid, and Leonard to complete non-factors similar to Holliday, Okogie, and Selden Jr.

And that is not a fluke!