Milwaukee Bucks get 3 statement wins to start March

The Milwaukee Bucks seemed to be at a low point after losing to the Brooklyn Nets on February 26th.

Flip the calendar to March, and the Milwaukee Bucks are riding high after beating the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and the Phoenix Suns. It happened all in the span of five days.

Throw in a victory against the Charlotte Hornets to end February, and the Bucks are in the middle of a four-game win streak. That is a nice bounce back after losing four of five games during mid-February.

The Milwaukee Bucks proved to the Eastern Conference’s best, the Miami Heat, that Milwaukee is not ready to cede conference control over just yet. The Bucks showed their championship toughness by coming back from a 14-point hole to win on a last-second bucket by Jrue Holiday.

It has been the Bucks’ three stars in Holiday,  Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Khris Middleton that have gotten Milwaukee through this three-game March stretch with victories.

Holiday played big against the Heat with 25 points and 11 assists.

Against the Chicago Bulls, it was Giannis who scored 34 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to victory. Holiday also hit some clutch buckets down the stretch. Grayson Allen ignored being booed every time he touched the ball to help down the stretch as well.

Middleton would then top them all with 44 points against the NBA’s best team, the Phoenix Suns. Holiday once again helped out in the win with 24 points.

It is worth mentioning that Holiday has been outstanding in the fourth quarter since the All-Star break.

Beating the Suns was another shot over the bow at Phoenix to let them know the Milwaukee Bucks still won their NBA Finals matchup last season.

"“We love being in those type of games,” Holiday said. “They’re a really good team. We kind of know what it takes, especially in moments like that, what it takes to win games.”"

While it is still early March, getting through three games that featured the Eastern Conference’s best team (because of their record), the team trying to take the Central Division title away and the best team in the league with wins is impressive.

The Milwaukee Bucks need to overcome two big problems if they hope to make more winning statements come playoff time.

The Bucks have so far been one of the league’s worst teams in the third quarter. Those third-quarter performances have either erased some nice Milwaukee leads or put the Bucks in some holes heading into the fourth.

Turnovers have been a recent problem for the Milwaukee Bucks too. The Bucks have turned the ball over 69 times in their last five games. Turnovers down the stretch cost the Bucks a win against Brooklyn. Turnovers nearly gave the Bulls a win in Chicago against Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Bucks need to clean up those two areas if they hope to repeat as NBA Champions, but this three-game stretch showed the Bucks are capable of defending their crown.