Sports
Bucks next game, NBA playoffs schedule 2023, play-in tournament … – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The NBA playoffs will run through Milwaukee in 2023.
The Bucks have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference standings for the third time in five years and have home court advantage throughout the postseason, including in the NBA Finals if they advance that far.
Here’s what you need to know about the Bucks’ magic number, where they rank in the NBA standings, their remaining schedule, potential playoff scenarios and more.
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The Bucks clinched the top seed after they defeated the Chicago Bulls, 105-92, on Wednesday at Fiserv Forum, despite playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton. Khris Middleton also left the game with an injury.
The Bucks entered the week with a magic number of 4. Three straight wins over four days and a Boston Celtics loss on Tuesday ended the drama.
Milwaukee finished with a 58-24 record. The Bucks are 32-9 at home this season and 26-15 on the road.
The regular season is over. The playoffs begin for the Bucks on Sunday, April 16, at Fiserv Forum in Game 1 of a first-round series. Their opponent is not yet determined.
The Boston Celtics. They finished with a 57-25 record. The reigning Eastern Conference champion Celtics will be the No. 2 seed this season. It’s the same seed they had last year on their way to the NBA Finals.
Thanks to winning the season series over the Bucks, 2-1, the Celtics would have earned the No. 1 seed if both teams had finished the regular season with the same records. But since the Bucks have a three-game lead over the Celtics with two games to play for both teams, Milwaukee will finish with at least a one-game edge.
The Celtics defeated the Bucks, 139-118, in a Christmas Day showdown at TD Garden as Jayson Tatum scored 41 points; the Bucks won, 131-125, in overtime on Feb. 14 behind 40 from Jrue Holiday, with many of Boston’s stars out of the lineup, and the Celtics just trounced the Bucks March 30, 140-99, at Fiserv Forum. Tatum reached the 40-point mark again, while Jaylen Brown added 30 on 13 of 20 shooting.
Teams 1-6 have qualified for the playoffs, while teams 7-10 are competing in a play-in tournament this week.
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The West-leading Denver Nuggets finished with a 52-29 record. The Bucks will have home court throughout the playoffs and will host the first two games of the NBA Finals if they get there.
The Bucks did not have home-court advantage when they won the NBA title in 2021 over the Phoenix Suns.
Teams in the 7-10 seed range will compete in a play-in tournament beginning April 11. The Bucks’ first-round series begins Sunday, April 16. Games 1 and 2 of that best-of-seven series will be played at Fiserv Forum.
That’s unclear due to the many scenarios of the play-in tournament but it’s down to four teams.
The 4-5 and 3-6 matchups of the first round will be known after the regular season is over on Sunday, April 9. But now that the NBA has implemented a play-in tournament the last few seasons, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds won’t initially know their first-round opponents.
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Here’s how it works: The No. 9-seeded team plays the No. 10-seeded team in a game, while the No. 7-seeded team plays the No. 8-seeded team. The loser of the 9-10 matchup is eliminated. The winner of the 7-8 game advances to play the No. 2 seed in the first round. The winner of the 9-10 matchup plays the loser of the 7-8 game for the right to advance to play the No. 1 seed in the first round.
The Miami Heat (No. 7 seed) play the Atlanta Hawks, the eighth seed, in a play-in game, while the No. 9 Toronto Raptors and No. 10 Chicago Bulls play in the other opening-round play-in game with the loser eliminated.
The Bucks have recent playoff history with all these teams.
Milwaukee eliminated the Bulls in five games in the first round of last year’s playoffs; the Bucks beat the Heat and Hawks on their way to the NBA title in 2021; the Heat upset the No. 1-seeded Bucks in the “playoff bubble” in 2020; the Raptors knocked out the No. 1 Bucks in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals.
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