The Milwaukee Bucks swept the Miami Heat in the first-round of the NBA playoffs and the Nets closed out the Boston Celtics in Game 5 on Tuesday night, setting up a much anticipated series between the Bucks and Nets with the winner going to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Entering the 2020-21 season, both the Bucks and Nets were two of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, so someone’s dreams of winning a championship this year are going to be crushed over the next two weeks. 

READ MORE: NBA Predictions: Previewing the Hawks-76ers Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup

In their series against the Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks looked unstoppable at times, but they did suffer a big loss. Donte DiVincenzo injured his foot in Game 3 and it was later said that he suffered a season-ending ligament injury. DiVincenzo is one of their best perimeter defenders and does a lot of the “little things” to help the Bucks win, so guys like Bryn Forbes, Pat Connaughton and Jeff Teague will have to step up moving forward. 

As for the Nets, they too looked dominant in their series as it took a 50-point performance by Jayson Tatum for the Celtics to steal a game from them. At no point in this series did it seem like the Celtics could beat the Nets, which is why this showdown in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Bucks is going to be a fantastic matchup each and every game. 

Both teams could absolutely go on to win the championship this year, so let’s dive in and take a look at both the Bucks and the Nets to see what they need to do in order to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.