Anyone banking on a Milwaukee Bucks championship repeat is in for a rude awakening

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 122-109 in a Saturday night game. Stephen Curry scored just eight points in the Warriors loss. Curry spent 35 minutes on the floor. Heading into the last 14 regular-season games, that should worry the fans.

Milwaukee has been up and down all year, scrolling through the Eastern Conference table. At one point earlier this season, they fell into the play-in range of the table, butclawed their way back up to first place in the east. They are in second place, 2.5 games behind the Miami Heat, with about a month remaining until the playoffs.

I don't think it's that simple to call for a repeat of the Bucks. The breaks the Bucks got last year don't happen in consecutive seasons. Milwaukee took advantage of facing a wounded Miami squad last year who, in the prior playoffs, took care of the Bucks in five games. Jrue Holiday wasn't with the Bucks for that 2020 playoff series, but neither was Victor Oladipo, who recently made his long-awaited return for Miami. It will be night time in Milwaukee if the Bucks and Heat play in the playoffs.

Everyone remembers last year's series against the Brooklyn Nets where Kevin Durant almost single-handedly defeated the Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets were undone by the big toe of KD, but that wasn't even a series until Irving went down with an ankle injury. James Harden injured his leg in the first game of the series. Trae Young twisted his ankle in the third game of the eastern conference finals when a referee got in the way of him. I don't think the path to Finals will be paved in gold for the Bucks this year.

There is help on the way. Lopez is expected to return in the next few days. Lopez has been out for most of the year with a back injury. Milwaukee lost the points in the paint battle against Golden State Saturday as they missed his presence inside. I'm not sure how much to expect from him coming back just four months after surgery. George Hill and Lopez are expected to return, which will help round out their playoff roster.