Bucks Zone

Tracking the Bucks’ In-Season standings: How they can advance to the knockout stage

For the outright entry to the QF, the Bucks must dispatch the Heat en route to a 4-0 pool play record.

Matthew Dugandzic

© Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The road to the much anticipated knockout stage of the Association's first-ever In-Season Tournament continues for the Milwaukee Bucks this Tuesday. Still, despite holding the top record in the Eastern Conference's Group B with a 3-0 record, the Bucks have no reason to take their foot off the pedal.

Bucks' current In-Season position

As they close their group play against the Miami Heat in the Kaseya Center, the Bucks have plenty of potential scenarios to face at the conclusion of the matchup.

With a 3-0 record, Milwaukee sits atop the group, while Miami (2-1), the New York Knicks (2-1), and the Charlotte Hornets (1-2) are still on the trail. Meanwhile, the Washington Wizards are already out of contention with a winless card (0-4).

The Bucks can enter the knockout round of the In-Season Cup from these instances:

  • By beating the Heat this Tuesday and win the Group B with a perfect 4-0 card
  • If the Knicks beat the Hornets, but the Bucks still win over the Heat, the latter will still advance due to tiebreaker lead.

If the Bucks take the defeat and either the Knicks or the Heat advance, they can still move forward to the quarterfinals as a wild-card team if:

  • New York, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and the Brooklyn Nets all lose
  • Milwaukee ended up second in its group and took the tiebreaker margin over other second-place teams from other East groups with a 3-1 record.

Before the Tuesday clash, the Bucks are holding a +39 point differential – the highest amongst the East participants that are yet to enter the quarterfinals.

The knockout rounds will commence on Dec. 4, in which the top eight teams will be featured in a win-or-go-home setup. The two finalists will land in Las Vegas for the championship round, with the winning team bagging a pot money of $500,00 per player.

For the young guns

Even though the Larry O'Brien trophy is the ultimate goal this 2023-24 season, the Bucks have already declared that they are aiming to be the last team standing in the In-Season Tournament.

This ultimate plan of the team was already identified when Damian Lillard made it known last week that they target the title as a gift to their young teammates, and the $500k prize is great enough for the endeavors of their family.

"I think it's a situation where it's a tournament, you want to win that first of all, but for us, in our position, guys like myself, Giannis (Antetokounmpo), Khris (Middleton), Brook (Lopez) as well, we've made a lot of money, but I think as a leader and somebody who cares about your teammates especially your younger teammates, you got guys on two-way contracts, guys who are trying to earn their stay and that prize in the end could change their family's lives," said Lillard.

GAME DAY PREVIEW AND INJURY REPORT: The Milwaukee Bucks face the Miami Heat in a crucial In-Season Tournament game

Published
Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.