By Rick Braun, Special to OnMilwaukee.com   Published Apr 30, 2015 at 6:06 AM Photography: David Bernacchi

Making history would just be icing on the pastry. For now, the Milwaukee Bucks are simply focused on the task at hand.

That task is Game 6, at 6 p.m. tonight at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

It’s a task nearly all the "experts" never figured the Bucks would face after falling behind, 3-0, to the Chicago Bulls.

Entering this season’s NBA playoffs, 110 teams had fallen behind by a 3-0 margin. Not one came back to win the series. In fact, just three have ever even forced a Game 7 and just 12 forced a Game 6.

The Bucks became number 13 with their 94-88 victory Monday at Chicago’s United Center.

On Thursday, they’ll try to become just the fourth team to force a Game 7.

Yet for a team that’s playing against such steep odds, the Bucks are a confident group.

"Really, the pressure’s on them," forward Jared Dudley said, referring to the Bulls. "We don’t really have any pressure. For us this whole series, no one really expected that, so for us, even though there’s no pressure we’re really confident guys."

There are some good reasons for that confidence. First off, the Bucks have set a very nice trend – they’ve gotten better every game of the series.

"I think the momentum has shifted a little bit," said guard Michael Carter-Williams, who flirted with a triple-double Monday with 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

He’s correct, too. It could be felt in the United Center as the Bucks quieted more than 21,000 Chicago fans. And you could sense it in the post-game interviews. Chicago players talked about their predicament.

"Now we have a very difficult challenge in front of us," Chicago center Pau Gasol said after Monday’s loss. "They have momentum. They have confidence. And they go home to force Game 7. Let's see how we play Game 6, how we react to the situation as a team."

Another part of tonight’s game that should prove interesting is the crowd. Chicago fans bought up lots of tickets for the first two games. Tickets for Game 6 didn’t go on sale until after Monday’s victory, and ticket sales were limited to fans with a Wisconsin zip code for the first day. It’s entirely possible that the crowd will be much more pro-Bucks than the hybrid mixes of Games 3 and 4.

"I’ve been tweeting out that the city is buzzing," Dudley said. "I think, to be honest with you, for the most part people thought this series was done. I think that once you get that road win I think there’s now a belief that, hey, it’s a possibility. I think that people here expect us to win this game. We’re at home; a huge crowd; we’ve gotten better."

At the same time, the Bucks can expect the Bulls’ best shot. Chicago is a playoff-tested team that entered the season as one of the favorites in the East.

"They’re well-coached," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said Wednesday. "Thibs (Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau) is always going to make adjustments – not just game-to-game but also from timeout to timeout. He always has those guys in the right position to be successful. For us, we just have to keep playing hard and execute our game plan."

While momentum seems to be in the Bucks’ favor, the math still remains in Chicago’s.

"We're still down, and we know if we lose, it's go home," Carter-Williams said. "We're still playing with our backs against the wall."

Yet the possibilities are quite exciting. If the Bucks are able to pull off a third straight victory, the eyes of all NBA observers will tune in for Saturday’s Game 7.

"Our thing is to just get to Game 7," Dudley said. "If you get to Game 7, anything can happen. You don’t know. So we have to handle our end of the bargain. Our guys are excited. We’re excited to play and excited to have the opportunity now."