Compared to past seasons, competition in the East has been particularly fierce this season, with the Cavaliers, Bulls and Hornets all showing their strength and becoming ranking spoilers.
In addition, veteran teams such as bucks, Heat, Raptors, Nets, Green Army and 76ers still maintain strong competitiveness, which makes the overall ranking competition in the East extremely fierce.
In particular, the playoff ranks have rolled up to new heights, which makes it very likely that the defending champion Bucks will encounter opponents like the Nets in the first round, so will the Bucks face hell or heaven in the first round? The US media also explained in detail the Bucks' 5 potential opponents in the first round, of which 3 teams came to the catch, and the two teams were afraid of brewing black seven.
Fifth place: Wasp
The Hornets are currently in 10th place in the East and the Bucks are in second place in the East, and it is not difficult for the two teams to meet, because the Hornets need to be in the top eight to get a chance to compete for seventh.
In contrast, the Bucks are first in the East, and it is more likely to meet the Hornets in eighth place, but either way, it is a situation that the Bucks are willing to see.
Because the young Hornets simply could not pose any threat to the Bucks, the Hornets had no defensive system to speak of, and in the most recent meeting between the two teams, the Bucks won by 35 points, which is basically the gap between the real strength of the two teams.
Fourth place: The Hawks
As opponents in last season's East Conference Finals, the Bucks used their actions last season to tell the Hawks about the gap in hard power between the two teams.
The Overall strength of the Hawks has declined significantly this season, and the team style is the same as that of the Hornets, completely dependent on offense and has no defensive ability to speak of.
The only thing the Bucks need to worry about is Trae Young, but even if Trae Young suddenly burst out to help the Hawks win, it will be difficult to change the fact that the team's hard power is much lower than that of the Bucks.
Third place: Cavaliers
The Cavaliers are currently in sixth place in the East, but only one win ahead of the seventh-place Raptors, and are likely to fall further in the rankings due to serious injuries.
There is no doubt that the young Cavaliers are also the Bucks' favorite first-round matchup target, even if this season the Cavaliers have become the dark horse of the East, playing with vitality and resilience, and the overall defense is much better than the Hawks and Hornets.
But the team is extremely young, lacks basic playoff experience, and it is a fool's dream to overturn the defending champion in the first round.
Second place: Raptors
Compared with the top three on the list, the Raptors are naturally not the opponents that the Bucks want to encounter, after all, they are an old strong team and their style is very restrained bucks.
The Raptors have completed a sweep of the Bucks this season, and in the last 5 encounters, the Raptors have won.
The reason is also very simple, the Raptors have an excellent coaching staff, and the players are tall and long-armed, very good at packing and pressing the whole field, resulting in the alphabet brother often playing very badly, if the first round of meeting, the two teams are destined to stage a very fierce and difficult round of duels.
1st place: Nets
There is no doubt that the top spot belongs to the Nets, even if the Bucks have an absolute advantage in terms of confrontation and interior.
And the Nets Irving can only play in away games, and Nash's coaching level is far less than Nas, but the Nets have Durant, as well as a group of experienced veterans and former All-Star players.
They have enough ability to complete the "black seven" against the Bucks, after all, the two teams fought until the seventh last season to divide the winner, and the depth of the Nets' lineup this season has increased significantly.