Bucks Still Being Given High Odds to Win Eastern Conference Despite Slow Start

Do the Bucks have a shot?

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

During the first 10 games of the season, the Milwaukee Bucks looked like a team on track to shockingly miss the postseason. The Bucks had come out flat to start the season at 2-8 as the Khris Middleton injury seemed to catch up with the team while the Damian Lillard-Giannis Antetokounmpo pairing still fell short of expectations.

Since that eighth loss, which came at the hands of the Boston Celtics two weeks ago, the Bucks have begun to turn their season around. They have won six of their last seven games, and are now just one game below .500 for the first time since October. The Bucks now rank sixth in a weak Eastern Conference with an 8-9 record, only behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, Celtics, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat.

Though the Bucks have gotten off to a slow start and only one of their victories over this stretch has come against a team with a winning record, they surprisingly have top-five odds to win the Eastern Conference this season.

The Bucks currently have +1400 odds to win the conference, tied with the Magic for fifth-best. The Celtics, the defending champions, have the best odds at +105. The Knicks come in second (+400), the Cavaliers are third (+450), and the 3-13 Philadelphia 76ers (+1300), per Bovada.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Bucks have even better odds than the 76ers to win the Eastern Conference at +1300.

The high odds are likely because the Bucks are currently playing in an Eastern Conference that features just four teams with winning records. The Celtics and Cavaliers are the class of the Eastern Conference to this point, but the Bucks are a team trending upward. Along with their current win streak, the Bucks should be aided by the return of Middleton returns in the near future.

The Bucks likely get the benefit of the doubt since they are regularly in the postseason. The Bucks have made the postseason every season since 2017, and most recently won the Eastern Conference in 2021, when they went on to win the championship. The Celtics are favored to win the East this season, but the Bucks are expected to contend.

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