With a solid core of talent among their ranks and head coach Jason Kidd at the helm for his third season, the Milwaukee Bucks returned to the playoffs and are seemingly set for the sixth seed.
The side reached heights of fifth before an end-of-season slump, but even reaching a mid-seed shows vast improvements on their season before, where they finished 12th with a record of 33-49.
This time around they've hit the 40-win mark and finished atop of the set of teams that cluster the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference.
Injury Troubles
The Bucks' season might be considered a success, but it could've been so much more if the side hadn't been unlucky with injury.
In preseason, Milwaukee were struck with the news that Khris Milddleton would miss the majority of the season through injury due to a torn hamstring.
The 25-year-old failed to make a single appearance until February, and his value is clearly shown through his near-15 point average for the remainder of this season.
However, almost exactly at the time of the shooting guard's return, the Bucks then went and lost Jabari Parker to an ACL injury that ruled him out before the postseason. The power forward had been averaging over 20 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Bucks.
Inconsistency
One of the main issues with the Bucks in their quest to climb up their conference was their inconsistency throughout the season.
Back in January, the team went on a run of ten losses in 11 games, which included disappointing performances against some of the league's worst teams - the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic.
However, just five days prior to the start of the cold-streak, the Bucks beat the San Antonio Spurs for the first time since 2012.
In March, the Bucks went on a run of eight wins in ten games to solidify their playoff hopes, but as aforementioned have since slumped to a three-game losing streak to slip down from fifth-seed to sixth.
The Rise of The Greek Freak
One thing that can't be ignored when watching Milwaukee this season has been the mesmeric rise of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The 22-year-old has led the Bucks in all five regularly-recorded stats, thanks to returns of 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.9 blocks.
He's now in the driver's seat to win the Most Improved Player of the Year Award, having improved his points tally alone by over six per night.
What's more, Antetokounmpo has been arguably the most - or only - consistent thing about the Bucks this year. Whilst most players dip and rise above their eventual season average, Antetokounmpo has scored there-and-around his 23 point average across all full months of the season.
Trade Success
The Bucks were busy in the offseason throughout the campaign itself too. Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic joined the side in the summer, while mid-way through they traded for Spencer Hawes and Roy Hibbert. They also drafted in Thon Maker and Malcolm Brogdon.
The latter is in serious contention for the Rookie of the Year Award, having averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 assists for the season.
Maker has been slightly less impressive, but still boasts a player efficiency rating of over 14.
Dellavedova, who joined from the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been stellar with his assist work this term, averaging just shy of five per game despite limited minutes.
Playoff Expectations
Sitting as the sixth-seed, the Bucks will take on the No. 3 seed Toronto Raptors. There is no room for error for the Bucks as they will take on a big and physical Raptors team. They must steal one game on the road to have a favorable shot in winning the series.
As their postseason starts on Saturday, it remains to be seen what this year's Bucks team will offer. Bucks' fans should hope that this is just a small portion of success from this team and they still have yet to grow.