Eastern Conference Round One Playoffs:
Milwaukee Bucks (2) host the Philadelphia 76ers (7)

The Milwaukee Bucks have enjoyed a quietly dominant season, pushing close to 60 wins, never really having a down period aside from a post-winning streak lull in the earlier weeks of the season. Their best player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, has led from the front all season, pushing to the brink of superstardom. Their cast of elite defensive players, like Myles Turner and O.G. Anunoby, and young stud Evan Mobley, have formed the Bucks core that has consistently performed and had Bucks fans thinking of how far they could go in these upcoming playoffs.

The Philadelphia 76ers, however, have endured a much different journey through the 2022-2023 season. Seemingly never having a complete team and having some of their best/most impactful players out for long periods of time, the 76ers solidified a team-build and strategy with a high-floor and rescued their season. Without Wiggins and Steven Adams for much of the season, the 76ers clung to play-in hope, eventually winning the 7^th seed, demonstrating pride and grit. With a commitment to playing big and cheesy, and Andrew Wiggins returning, makes the 76ers a tough out for the Bucks, and a chance to make this a real series.

The Tale of the Tape

Milwaukee arguably has the best defensive team in the league. It�s not a stretch to claim such, with the team boasting the least points allowed per game across the entire league. A starting lineup of SGA, Mobley, Turner, Anunoby and Payton II boasts a top 5 scorer in the league, and likely four of the top 20 defenders (in some manner) across the league. Lockdown defense, post defense, blocking, stealing, strength, length � they have it all; the lineup is downright scary when you consider your team has to consistently score against any of those aforementioned players.




Philadelphia actually have a much stronger roster than many might give them credit for. Much like SGA, De�Arron Fox is the 76ers equivalent of a great scoring point guard on the cusp of superstardom. Before too long, Fox will be able to carry a 2k team, but not this season. However, Gobert, Brogdon and Wiggins are all really good players, experienced and versatile. Sharpe has proven himself to be the prototypical athletic big man who 2k hasn�t paid enough attention to to take away his super rebounding abilities.




Milwaukee likely has the stronger bench, but for both teams, the starting units are healthy and will be doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and the bench battle is fairly even.

Key Matchups

SGA and Fox is the matchup we all want to see! Both young guards are genuinely on the path to superstardom and that�s a rare occurrence; even rarer is that both the young guards are set to lead their teams against each other in this first-round matchup.

However, I think that the Bucks will likely look to negate Fox as much as possible and play Gary Payton II on him. Plus, Daz prefers SGA to play the shooting guard spot, playing that position predominantly since the DeRozan trade.

Fox in his current state of evolution may struggle against Payton, who is a great defender and theft in 2k. SGA will likely be matched against Malcolm Brogdon, the projected starting shooting guard for the 76ers.

Where the 76ers could be considered ahead is in the rebounding department. Gobert and Sharpe would have to be one of the best 2k rebounding duos in the league (and luckily for the Bucks, they don�t have Steven Adams to contend with, too). For the Bucks, they have a great frontline in Myles Turner and Evan Mobley. They are more talented and versatile than Gobert and Sharpe, but they concede size and strength and brute rebounding 2k-grunt. I think Daz would have done his research, but this is an area where the 76ers can peg back the Bucks.

And coming in third, but just as exciting, is a prospective matchup between O.G. Anunoby and Andrew Wiggins. These are two of the better younger, two-way wings in the league. Anunoby is elite defense, with developing offense, whereas Wiggins is good on both ends, without the defensive acumen and consistency that Anunoby possesses. As a fan of big wings, I am really looking forward to this matchup. Wiggins will have to score and score efficiently for the 76ers if they are any chance.



Both teams possess handy depth, while neither features a strong, game-changing player off the bench. The 76ers need their bench mob, Martin, Divincenzo, Yurtseven etc. to be impactful every game. These starting lineups are pretty set for the series, so bench units will have to feel each other out in Game One and aim to take control.


What Will Happen?

Two of the real gentlemen of the NSL, facing off in what should be a competitive series. I think the Bucks have too much momentum and defensive class to lose the series, but I think it will have exciting moments. Due to the 76ers never being healthy, their talent is being slept on. I think the 76ers can take two games off the Bucks, with Milwaukee prevailing in the end.

Bucks in 6.