Ranking the Bucks’ schedule month by month by difficulty

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Now that it’s been some time since the NBA released its 2024-25 NBA schedule, it’s time to break down which months could be the toughest for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Last season, the Bucks’ schedule was front-loaded with many games against the NBA, and the tough time came in the back half of the season. Their record reflected this as they started the season 31-13 before firing head coach Adrian Griffin. When it came to their tough games in the second half of last season, the Bucks did not fare well as they finished their last 38 games with an overall record of 18-20.

Each season, the schedule can be an indicator of how the season might go, depending on when the easy and difficult times occur. With that in mind, let’s see how each month of Buck’s 2024-25 season ranks in terms of difficulty, starting with the most difficult months.

March (16 games) and April (7 games)

Like last season, the toughest stretch of games for Milwaukee comes in the final two months of the regular season. It will be the ultimate test for Milwaukee as they prepare for the postseason as a team looking to contend for the NBA title.

Starting March 1 through April 11, the Bucks will have 19 of their possible 21 games against teams that had winning records last year, all of which are either play-in or playoff games.

They have a lot of tough games at home — Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves — and away — Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Lakers, Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Pacers, Suns, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers).

In addition to the stiff competition, they also find themselves with four of their 16 back-to-backs in the past two months. The Bucks face the Atlanta Hawks and Mavericks and the Magic and Cavaliers in early March, another against the Pacers and Thunder in mid-March and a fourth against the Timberwolves and Pelicans in early April. The lone bright spot is that three of the four are all home.

Furthermore, there is a terrible stretch from March 8th to March 16th where Milwaukee finds itself playing six games in nine days, with matchups against the Magic, Cavaliers, Pacers, Lakers, Pacers again and the Thunder.

As difficult as the last two months will be for the Bucks, they will catch a break when they close out the season by playing the Detroit Pistons in back-to-back games to end the regular season.

March and April will be the ultimate test for Milwaukee, and they will likely need to be in playoff shape to compete well in this final stretch of games. Given that they will likely be fighting for a top spot in the Eastern Conference, they will have to earn it the hard way with the many tough games they will face in the latter part of the schedule.

But if healthy, the Bucks have already shown us in recent years that they can beat anyone when they play close to their best basketball.

December (10 games)

As it stands, December looks to be the easiest month of the Bucks’ schedule, though it could get tougher depending on how the Bucks do in the NBA Cup. As it stands today, there are plenty of games that can be won.

Seven of their 10 games in December come against teams that posted losing records last season (Chicago Bulls twice, Hawks, Brooklyn Nets twice, Pistons and Washington Wizards). None of the teams listed are poised to improve significantly from last season.

The only real tests seem to be road games against the Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Pacers, but outside of those, it’s hard to imagine the Bucks not being able to get plenty of wins without injuries.

November (14 games)

While the Bucks will have several matchups against some of the top teams in the East (Cavaliers twice, Celtics, Heat, Knicks, Pacers) in November, they are also set to face many of the feed from below.

Once they get past the first five games (Cavaliers twice, Utah Jazz, Knicks, Celtics), three of which are at home, Milwaukee will face many teams that finished at the bottom of the NBA last season. From Nov. 11 through Nov. 30, Milwaukee will have six of its nine remaining November games against teams that failed to reach the playoffs or better (Raptors, Pistons, Hornets twice, Rockets and Wizards). They also host the rebuilding Bulls, who barely made the playoffs last season.

Overall, there’s a good chance that if Milwaukee can go 3-2 or better through the first five games of November, then they’ll have one of their easier months.

October (5 games)

The first cycle of five matches to start the 2024-25 season is a unique combination of easy and difficult matches.

They open the season on the road against the 76ers before getting a pair of easy contests against the Bulls at home and then the Nets on the road. After that, they hit the road for their toughest game of the month, visiting the Celtics before closing out October with another game against the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant.

This should be an interesting way to start the season as the Bucks strike a perfect balance between tough road games and what should be “gimmie” wins against the Bulls and Nets.

January (16 games)

On a par with March, the month the Bucks have the most games (16), January seems to be balanced with tough and easy games.

It has some games that most would classify as pretty easy (Jazz, Nets, Portland Trail Blazers twice, Toronto Raptors twice, San Antonio Spurs twice) and a handful of games against 2023 playoff teams -2024 (Los Angeles Clippers, Heat, Knicks, Magic). twice, 76ers, Pelicans), in addition to hosting the Kings, who made the play-ins last season.

Aside from playing the Clippers, Knicks, Magic and Pelicans on the road, it seems like there are plenty of games to be won if the Bucks play good basketball.

February (12 games)

Before the start of March, Milwaukee’s schedule begins to ramp up in February. There are many tough matchups this month, including a back-to-back against the Memphis Grizzlies and Thunder to open the month, another back-to-back against the 76ers and Warriors a week later, a road contest against the Timberwolves and more home . games against the Clippers, Heat and Nuggets.

In the multi-game stretch between Feb. 2 and Feb. 10, the Bucks will play six games in nine days, with four of those coming against the Grizzlies, Thunder, 76ers and Warriors. Two days later they hit the road to face the Timberwolves. Assuming they’re healthy, that week and a half should be one of the strongest tests to see exactly where the Bucks stand in both NBA conferences.

To add even more potential difficulty, the NBA’s trade deadline is February 6th. If the Bucks were to make a move to bolster their title hopes at the deadline, then they could have some bumps while they figure out their new rotations.