Sixers and Bucks on the verge of an incredible rivalry
The Sixers and Bucks have gone back and forth on social media, but the expected blossoming of both teams can lead to the revival of a great Eastern Conference rivalry.
The Bucks got the last laugh on the Sixers last night. In what has been considered a controversial Rookie of the Year Award race, second-rounder Malcolm Brogdon beat out Dario Saric and Joel Embiid to win the coveted trophy. Embiid was clearly the best rookie on the court, but his run towards the trophy was halted after just 31 games. A slow start for Saric may have cost him the award for him as well.
Either way, Brogdon took home the award, and Bucks twitter took advantage of the victory. With tweets ranging from Brett Brown quotes to mocking RT Armageddon. This all follows Bucks owner Wes Edens claiming “guys in Philly want to talk about the process, I’d rather talk about the results”. All this off-court talk is co-aligning with the rise of both teams on the court.
The Milwaukee Bucks were close to a playoff series win against Toronto, but fell short in six games. They have arguably the best young player in the league in Giannis Antetokounmpo, and are forming a young formidable core with Thon Maker, Khris Middleton, and Jabari Parker. Milwaukee has by far seen the most on-court success from any rebuild thus far, but they could be seeing the Sixers often come playoff time.
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Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Markelle Fultz could quickly rival this Bucks squad, and have the potential to soar past them quickly. A Simmons-Antetokounmpo matchup has the potential of controlling the Eastern Conference post-LeBron James. You could argue the Sixers have the most promising core in the NBA, even with injuries taken into consideration.
The Sixers and Bucks did have a rivalry way back when. Since 1970, the two teams have met head-to-head in the playoffs nine times. The Sixers have one six of those match-ups, and haven’t lost since 1987. The last time the two met was 2001, where Allen Iverson led the Sixers past Ray Allen in a seven-game series.
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The Bucks do hold the edge in regular season play, however. They lead the matchup 105 to 98. With the Sixers looking to put their down years behind them, the rivalry will see an upswing of competition. The beauty of coming out of a rebuild is the flourishing of rivalries, and the Bucks seem to be target number one.