As the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons get their respective playoff journeys underway on Saturday, they’ll do so with the benefit of an abundance of familiarity with their opponent.
As Central Division rivals, the Bucks and Pistons faced off four times during the regular season, meaning both teams will have a strong feel for how the other plays, and how they might match up, heading into Game 1.
Still, the overwhelmingly lopsided nature of those four games means that familiarity probably doesn’t present as a universal positive in this context.
While the Bucks will be undoubtedly happy to go toe-to-toe with a Pistons team they swept during the course of their 60-win regular season campaign, Detroit is unlikely to be quite as thrilled at the prospect of seeing Milwaukee once again.