Milwaukee, Denver wrap up No. 1 seeds in NBA playoffs

April 6, 2023  -The road to the NBA Finals now goes through Milwaukee. The road out of the Western Conference goes through Denver, for the first time ever.

And the rest of the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket is now set as well.

The Bucks will have the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage for the entirety of their time in the NBA playoffs, after defeating Chicago 105-92 on Wednesday night. Milwaukee is now 58-22 this season; no other team in the league can get to more than 57 wins.

“It’s just a credit to the players,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “The players have really stepped up. I think they’ve embraced the challenge. Night in and night out in this league, it’s hard. There’s great opposition. … To have the best record, it is something that matters. It is important.”

The No. 1 seed in the West was decided Wednesday night as well. The Nuggets will have home-court throughout the West playoffs, after New Orleans defeated Memphis in overtime — and took away the last bit of hope the Grizzlies had of catching the Nuggets for the top spot out West.