Are Bucks tanking the second seed to avoid Heat or Sixers?

It's that time of the year when teams maneuver seedings to avoid certain match-ups in the playoffs. While it wouldn't be fair to accuse any team of tanking, there have been several instances in NBA history of teams doing exactly just. 

For example, during the penultimate game of the 2005-06 season, the Clippers suspiciously sat their best player, Elton Brand, and other key starters during the final quarter of a close game against the Grizzlies. With a loss, Los Angeles avoided a first-round match-up against the Mavericks (60-22) in favor of the Nuggets (44-38), whom they proceeded to beat 4-1 in the postseason. The tank job was so successful that the NBA changed its playoff seeding format a year later.

If you've got your tin foil hat on, you'd suspect something fishy about the Bucks' recent losses. On Wednesday, Doc Rivers' squad lost to an underhanded Grizzlies a night after losing to the lowly Wizards. 

With the playoffs right around the corner, why would a team with title aspirations lose to the worst two teams in the league? Wouldn't that hamper their momentum? 

A quick glance at the bottom half of the East standings could answer some of those questions. As it stands, the Bucks are two losses away from dropping to the fourth seed. By doing so, they could avoid two extremely dangerous first-round opponents — the Heat and 76ers — and instead deal with an injury-riddled Knicks team unlikely to have Julius Randle and OG Anunoby in the playoffs.

The "suspected" maneuvering could also help the Bucks avoid the Pacers, a team they lost 4-1 to in their regular-season series. 

The first-round loss to the Heat last year is all too fresh in the minds of Bucks fans. Could you imagine another early flameout courtesy of Jimmy Butler or Joel Embiid? 

That would be catastrophic on all levels, especially after the Bucks traded for Damian Lillard and fired two coaches over the last 12 months. 

Perhaps the Bucks would be under less fire if they could at least win one playoff series. Hence, the maneuvering.

It's enough to make you think.