It was one of the remarkable achievements by the NBA’s best team during the regular season: En route to winning 60 games, the Milwaukee Bucks lost back-to-back games just once.
Blame the travails of a Western Conference road swing in which the Bucks played five games in eight days. Or blame a 1-for-13 shooting night from all-star swingman Khris Middleton. But two nights after the Bucks lost to the Utah Jazz back in March, they lost their second straight game to the lowly Phoenix Suns, at the time the worst team in the league. Duly chastened and the trip concluded, Milwaukee returned home and, after enjoying a couple of idle days to recuperate, drilled the Indiana Pacers by 19 points in their first game back from the road.