When the Bucks stumbled out to a 2-8 start, it was fair to wonder whether the sky might actually be falling in Milwaukee. There were actual trade winds swirling around Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is about as fiery as a red-alert situation can get.

Things have seriously, significantly and (fingers-crossed) perhaps sustainably stabilized since. The Bucks are 12-3 with a plus-5.7 net rating over their last 15 games, per NBA.com.

The schedule has softened, and they’ve finally gotten Khris Middleton back, but the reason behind this surge might be even more simple. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been unguardable, and the support players around him have started making shots. Six of Milwaukee’s top seven scorers—every one but Antetokounmpo—are shooting better than 38 percent from three in this stretch.

“We trust one another now,” Antetokounmpo said after Milwaukee’s semifinal win over the Atlanta Hawks. “We play together. There’s no more hero ball. … The moment we figured out we’ve gotta compete as a team, we’ve gotta move the ball as a team, we’ve gotta play together, we changed our season around.”

Milwaukee’s goals go beyond winning the NBA cup, but this is a tremendous test to see how much progress has been made. Most of the Bucks’ stiffest competition came during those early weeks—they are only 4-8 against .500-or-better opponents—so this will be a great chance to show how real these statistical gains are.

The sky-is-falling worries might be behind them, but a signature win like this would help restore their championship confidence.