Milwaukee Bucks: Breaking Down Their Remaining Schedule

Jan 28, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Tony Snell (21) gets pressure from Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) in the first quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA regular season has just four weeks remaining, meaning Milwaukee Bucks have four weeks to hold onto their playoff berth. How does the remaining schedule look for their playoff chances?

The Milwaukee Bucks are one of the hottest teams in the NBA, winning six straight games before their loss Monday to Memphis and 10 of their last 14 to leap back into the playoff picture.

Currently eighth in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks are in the driver's seat to return to the postseason.

The problem is that their primary competition for the playoff berth is also on fire, as the Miami Heat have been on an absolute tear since the middle of January. Their four-point loss at Indiana Sunday was just their fourth in their last 25 games.

Milwaukee will also be jostling with a Charlotte team reinvigorated by a few recent wins and the return of Cody Zeller from injury. The Chicago Bulls have fallen out of the top eight, but their final six games are all against bottom-eight teams.

The Detroit Pistons are riding an up-and-down season and currently have a 1.5-game lead on the field for the seventh spot.

The sheer number of teams with a realistic shot at the postseason leads to a number of scenarios where Milwaukee misses out.

Despite their strong play recently, FiveThirtyEight's projections only give Milwaukee a 34 percent chance of making the postseason, despite currently holding onto the eighth and final playoff spot.

At this point in the season, schedule matters every bit as much as level of play. Close with a gauntlet of winning teams and a respectable 4-3 record could mean missing out. Line up a row of pushovers and mediocre play could net the wins needed.

The NBA regular season ends on April 12, meaning the Bucks and the remainder of the league have less than 30 days to make their moves. With 16 games remaining on their schedule, how do things lay out for Milwaukee? Is their path to the playoffs paved with gold or fraught with peril?

Mar 3, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton (22) looks to pass against LA Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Road Trip

The Milwaukee Bucks kick off the stretch run with a trip out west, where Jason Kidd and his squad will play six straight games on the road against Western Conference foes.

Three of their first four games are against teams currently projected to make the playoffs, starting with the Memphis Grizzlies and ending with the Golden State Warriors.

Recent struggles aside, both the Grizzlies and the Warriors are loaded with talent and Milwaukee will not be favored in either game. They dropped the initial game to the Grizzlies 113-93 Monday evening as Vince Carter had a career-reviving game.

The three-night stay in Los Angeles offers more opportunity and not just in the way of night life. The Los Angeles Lakers are in all-out tank mode, trying to keep their win total depressed enough to stay in the top-three of the draft and retain their pick.

Their Staples Center roommates, the Clippers, are a much better team — but one that recently lost to the Bucks by 11 in Milwaukee.

After the Warriors, the trip eases up with games against the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings. The Blazers have been playing well of late with the addition of Jusuf Nurkic, but for the season have played significantly worse than Milwaukee.

The Kings have lost eight games in a row and have no path to playing successful basketball.

It's not unreasonable to expect the Bucks to struggle on their road trip, but this team is playing well and many of the teams they will face are not. A bad showing on the road could drop them behind one or more of their challengers for the postseason.

A 3-3 trip is likely, but a 4-2 mark is not out of the question.

Feb 13, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) gets a pass away from Detroit Pistons forward Jon Leuer (30) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

March Closes In-Conference

Milwaukee returns home after their Western Conference trip to face five Eastern foes in a row. They will play three of those games at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, where they are 20-16 on the season.

Three of those five matchups are against teams currently in the mix for those final Eastern Conference playoff berths, which mean a win or a loss could result in a huge swing in this team's playoff odds. Losing a game to Detroit or Chicago is more like losing a game-and-a-half.

The Bucks are 5-1 against the Pistons and Bulls this season and face both at home before the end of March. While the Pistons have played well recently, Chicago has not, and going 2-0 against those clubs is both likely and impactful for Milwaukee.

The more difficult challenge comes on the road as Milwaukee will play in Boston and Charlotte on a back-to-back. The Celtics are hot on the heels of the Cavaliers for the top seed in the East, and don't show any signs of easing up on the gas for the remainder of the season.

The Hornets are showing signs of life after a long span of listless basketball, and flying from Boston to Charlotte and playing a few hours later is never easy on a team.

Add in an Atlanta team that is wildly inconsistent from week-to-week and the Bucks have a chance to go 4-1 to close the month and pick up meaningful wins against teams right around them in the playoff race.

Oct 26, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) during the game against the Charlotte Hornets at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Final Stretch: Elimination Implications

April holds the final half-dozen games of Milwaukee's regular season schedule, and they hold a variety of challenges for a stretch that will mean a lot to the Bucks.

Not only will this team likely be fighting to make the postseason, but if they have the opportunity to move up in the standings and avoid Cleveland they will take it.

Road contests against the Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder are both tough matchups and both teams will likely be playing hard when Milwaukee comes into town to maximize their own playoff positioning.

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A win over the Pacers will give the Bucks a 4-0 season sweep and a chance at passing Indiana in the standings.

The Bucks' one soft spot comes with a trip to Philadelphia to face the 76ers, who are giving minutes to their young players and seeking the best possible draft spot come June before taking the next step forward in 2018 with a healthy core.

If Milwaukee wants to make the playoffs, that's an easy win they have to pick up.

The other three games have more variability depending on how the standings look at those points. An April 2 matinee against the Dallas Mavericks will be a much different game if Dallas has been eliminated from the playoffs by that point.

If they stay close on the heels of Denver and Portland — or even pass them — by that point, then Milwaukee will have a much more difficult task.

The same goes for the Charlotte Hornets at home on April 10. If the Hornets are still alive, it likely means they are just behind the Bucks and that game could have a huge impact on the postseason odds for both teams.

If they have no shot at the playoffs, they will most likely seek to brighten their pick and drop their final games.

Season Finale In Boston

The final game of the season for Milwaukee is one that could have fascinating implications for both teams involved. The Bucks will travel to the TD Garden in Boston for the second time in as many weeks to face the Celtics.

For Milwaukee, the baseline may be making the playoffs. Depending on how things go over the next few weeks, the simple math may be that Milwaukee just needs a win. A Boston team playing at its normal level is a tall, but not insurmountable, foe.

The Bucks took the Celtics to overtime in their first and only meeting earlier this season.

The Celtics may not be playing at that level, however, if they are locked into their seed and resting stars for the postseason. A Boston team playing without Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford and Jae Crowder is a very different sort of foe and one a locked-in Milwaukee squad should roll right over.