Following their decisive victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 24, the Milwaukee Bucks faced a challenging period.

In the subsequent seven games, the Bucks only managed to secure one win, placing their hold on the second position in the Eastern Conference at risk.

However, as they approach the upcoming game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, Bucks has triumphed in consecutive matches and is close to solidifying their spot just behind Boston.

With a record of 49-31, the Bucks require just one victory in their remaining two games or losses by the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers to confirm their standing.

Friday’s match holds significant importance not only for the Bucks but also for the Thunder, who currently share the second place in the Western Conference with Minnesota, trailing Denver by one game.

Despite holding the tiebreaker over the Nuggets, the Thunder are likely to lose out to the Timberwolves in a tiebreaker scenario due to their conference records.

In their initial encounter this season, the Bucks outscored the Thunder with a 118-93 victory at home in Milwaukee, where Oklahoma City’s main player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander registered only 12 points, his second-lowest performance of the season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed significantly with 30 points and 19 rebounds in that game, playing a pivotal role in congesting the paint to create difficulties for Gilgeous-Alexander.

“You see guys that average 30, 35, but he’s also a willing passer,” Antetokounmpo said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “So that kind of helps you sometimes, because he’s gonna try to make the right play, he’s not gonna force it.”

Nevertheless, Antetokounmpo will be absent from Friday’s game after sustaining a strained left calf during Tuesday’s win against Boston.

Antetokounmpo is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the regular season, with uncertainty looming over his availability for the initial playoff round.

“No timeline or anything like that, but we’ve got the best team working with him,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said of Antetokounmpo. “There’s no one who’s going to work harder than him. You know that. He’ll be back when he should be back. We’ll find out when that is.”

Milwaukee has managed a 4-3 record in games without Antetokounmpo this season.

“Obviously, Giannis is the head of the snake,” Damian Lillard said. “When he’s out there, we’re at our best. But we’ve got a lot of guys in our locker room. We’ve got vets.”

It is anticipated that the Bucks will reintroduce Khris Middleton following his absence on the second night of a recent back-to-back fixture.

Oklahoma City is expected to have a full squad available, with the return of Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams this week, while Luguentz Dort rested during Wednesday’s commanding victory over San Antonio.

Despite the opportunity to enhance their playoff positioning between Friday’s clash against Milwaukee and the final game against Dallas on Sunday, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault emphasized the team’s focus on continual improvement rather than fixating on potential outcomes.

“We’re not going to white knuckle the last week of the season and watch the standings because we haven’t done that all year,” Daigneault said. “We’ve just really focused on being the best team we can be, and that’s what we’ll continue to do all the way through to 82 (games).”