Milwaukee City Wire

Last summer, the Milwaukee Bucks ended a 50-year championship drought by downing the Phoenix Suns to capture their second NBA title in franchise history, but the triumph does not resonate on the same level of the Warriors’ and Heat’s reigns before it.

The Brew Hoop blog reported that sports pundits don’t picture the Bucks, who are led by NBA regular season and Finals MVP Giannis “Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo, to overtake the Eastern Conference once again this season, instead tabbing the Brooklyn Nets as the favorites.

“The Brooklyn Nets are widely considered to be the favorite to make it out of the East, despite having fallen to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals just a few months ago and making only marginal improvements to their roster,” Mitchell Mauer writes.

Another factor, Brew Hoop points out, is the seemingly never-ending fascination with the Lebron James-led Los Angeles Lakers, who made a splash during the offseason with their blockbuster trade for All-Star guard Russell Westbrook.

Still, the Bucks are expected to continuing making noise in the Association.

The New York Times in its preview of the East said Milwaukee is in a good position to defend its crown with the “same coach, same star and same core.”

What could prevent a Bucks’ back-to-back is fatigue, according to the publication.

As of this writing, Milwaukee began its title defense with an emphatic 127-104 win over Brooklyn.

Antetokounmpo continued from where he left off in Game 6 of the Finals by putting up a line of 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven rebounds against the Nets.