The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers’ Christmas Day matchup is not what most expected it to be.
It’s still early enough in the season that the two teams must be considered as potential playoff rivals, but the expectation when the schedule was released was that this would be a clash of two titans, and the Eastern Conference’s two clear best teams.
The Bucks have done their part to spoil that dynamic by being even more dominant than a year ago, separating themselves from the East’s chasing pack to this point. The 76ers have also ensured that gap is even greater, though, thanks to their underwhelming play to this point in their campaign.