3 Bucks Bold Predictions Coming Out of the All-Star Break

The Milwaukee Bucks are in the midst of a championship-or-bust season. After going all-in on Damian Lillard in the offseason, the Bucks began the year as one of the championship favorites. However, they played nowhere near that level all season, forcing them to fire first-time head coach Adrian Griffin and replace him with veteran coach Doc Rivers.

Yet, this hasn't helped either. Under Rivers, the Bucks are 3-7, having fallen to third place in the Eastern Conference entering the All-Star break.

Milwaukee desperately needed the break. As an older team, the Bucks need the rest as much as any team in the league. It will also give the coaching staff an opportunity to address the issues that have been plaguing them all year.

We can hope to see an entirely different Bucks team coming out of the All-Star break. They need to gel quickly and figure things out before the playoffs start in April. Here are three predictions for the rest of the season for the Bucks.

The defense will get back to elite levels

If Milwaukee wants to have any chance of making it to the NBA Finals, they will need to fix their defensive issues. Despite having elite rim protectors in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, the Bucks have the 19th-best defense in the league this season.

Doc Rivers needs to simplify the defensive scheme and go back to the basics. Keeping Lopez and Antetokounmpo closer to the rim should help immensely. The defense has already been better in the last eight games, ranking 11th in the NBA in that span.

That trend should continue and don't be surprised if the Bucks are once again one of the best defensive units in the league.