Milwaukee Bucks Eastern Conference standings after eight games, Digi Mart USA News: Eight games into the season, the Milwaukee Bucks are 1-7 and sit 15th in the Eastern Conference, which is last place, after a 109-102 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night that extended their losing streak to four games.
Milwaukee and the Chicago Bulls are both 1-7, but the Bulls hold the tiebreaker after beating the Bucks 132-125 in Milwaukee on Oct. 23. Both teams are 6.5 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers, who lead the East at 8-1, while the Detroit Pistons and Celtics sit right behind at 6-2.
The middle of the conference is crowded, with the Atlanta Hawks fourth at 5-4, and the Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Washington Wizards all at 4-4. That means the Bucks are only three games out of fifth place, which is not much this early in the season.
The bigger problem is the defense. Through Wednesday’s games, Milwaukee was allowing 122.3 points per game, and only the Miami Heat at 122.9 and the Bulls at 129.6 were allowing more in the East.
The Bucks were scoring 110.0 points per game, so the gap between the two numbers explains most of this start.
The loss to Boston was ugly early and encouraging late. According to the Associated Press, Milwaukee trailed 62-41 at halftime, then outscored the Celtics 61-47 in the second half and took its first lead at 92-91 before Boston closed the game on a 12-5 run over the final three minutes.
Guard Tyler Herro scored 17 of his 25 points in the third quarter, and forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 18 points while making four of his six threes.
Jaquez said after the game, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that he does not want to settle for a close loss.
“It’s important to grow as a group. I’m not one for all moral victories.
We want to win the game at the end of the day, but at some point we gotta lay the brick down,” Jaquez said.
Milwaukee traded Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami in June and received Herro, Jaquez, center Kel’el Ware, guard Kasparas Jakucionis and draft picks in return, and Taylor Jenkins took over as head coach. Herro is averaging 22.3 points per game.
Eight games is too early to panic about the standings, but it is not too early to want a better defense. Milwaukee has home games against the Raptors on Friday, Nov. 6, and the Celtics on Sunday, Nov. 8.
The publisher article argues that the Bucks can return near the play-in race by the end of November if the second-half effort in Boston carries over for a full 48 minutes. The article is not independently verified.
