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Breaking Down The Bucks’ 2017-2018 Schedule

Milwaukee Bucks 2017-2018 ScheduleFollowing the reveal of the Bucks’ new jerseys and a few nationally-televised games, the 2017-2018 Milwaukee Bucks schedule (running alongside the left side of this article) has been revealed in its entirety. For the casual fan, this might simply be a chance to see if they can catch any games, but for the NBA diehard the schedule reveal is one of the most important parts of an offseason. Let’s break it down, starting with the clarification that the first regular season game on the schedule is in Boston against the Celtics on August 18th.

14 Back-to-backs

One four-game homestand

Two three-game homestands

Four four-game road trips

Home opener against the Cavs on national TV

Two of first eight games against the Celtics

First three games against playoff teams

Six of first seven games against playoff teams

Six games on ESPN

Eight games on NBA TV

Four games on TNT

No game on Christmas

All around, the Bucks have a pretty tough start to the season. This is a good thing, though, since the team will be able to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses early, and any glaring issues can be remedied. If they start strong, we’ll know the 2017-2018 Bucks are for real, and if they start slowly there will be more than enough time to rebound and still make the playoffs.

Since the Bucks only have one four-game homestand and four four-game road trips, the Bucks are going to need to play extremely well on the road to have any amount of extended success. This would be more worrisome for Bucks teams of the past, as this team has high hopes, so they’ll need to win on the road anyways. Even if they lose a lot on the road, causing them to end up with a lower playoff seed, they’ll still have had plenty of experience on the road to guide them through the postseason.

The schedule also shows that the NBA is slightly excited about the Bucks, but is still selling them slightly short. Consider the fact that their second game will be nationally televised, and that this will also be the first Cavs game on national TV. The NBA probably wouldn’t make this such an early nationally televised game if they thought it would be a blowout. On the other hand, the NBA does not have the Bucks playing on Christmas, showing that they’re not considered one of the premier teams for national consideration yet. We’ll get there.

If the Bucks are going to reach the levels of success that many think they will this season (around 45-50 wins), they’ll have to win a lot of games on the road and a lot of games against playoff teams. The beginning of the season in particular will be a trial-by-fire for these young Bucks. That said, we here at Bucks Wire think that Giannis & Co. will have enough talent to put the league on notice by the end of October.