Editor's note: This story is updated to reflect outcomes through Feb. 9.

The Golden State Warriors became the earliest NBA team to clinch a playoff spot in 2017 when they secured their berth by Feb. 25. The Bucks are in the mix to improve on that record.

Everyone knows the Bucks (45-7 heading into Monday night's game with the Sacramento Kings) are going to the playoffs and have their eyes set on a bigger prize. Heck, the No. 8 seed in the playoffs last year only had 41 wins for the year. If you go back to 2014-15, the Bucks finished 41-41 and actually had the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

But the novel part would be the Bucks clinching a playoff spot before the all-star break. This year's all-star game takes place Feb. 16 and Milwaukee has two more games before the break, closing with a Feb. 12 game against Indiana and picking up again with a Feb. 20 battle in Detroit.

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Some bad news: The Bucks cannot mathematically clinch by the All-Star break at this point. But they certainly can do it sooner than any other team in NBA history.

The Bucks magic number to grab at least the eighth seed, heading into Monday, was 5. Any combination of Bucks wins or losses by the ninth-place team (the last team outside the playoff picture looking in, currently the Washington Wizards at 18-33) would shave a game off that number.

If the Bucks won both of their games before the break and the Wizards (or whichever team sits in ninth place) lost their remaining two games before the break, Milwaukee would still have a magic number of 1 when the playoffs begin.

Some simple math to calculate the magic number

Take the number 83 (1-plus the total number of games in a season), and then subtract the number of Bucks (45-7) wins, then the losses from the team we're comparing. In this case, that's the ninth-place Wizards (18-33).

It looks like this: 83-45-33 = 5.

The "plus-1" is essentially the baked in value to indicate the Bucks will finish ahead of that ninth-place team. The Bucks could guarantee a tie with the Wizards by the All-Star break, but the tiebreaker would remain undetermined. The Bucks won the first head-to-head meeting between the two teams this year, but three more games remain, so the Wizards are still alive to finish with the tiebreaking edge.

If we knew the Bucks would get the tiebreaker, we'd start with the value 82 instead of 83, since a tie would seal it. The Bucks already know they have the tiebreaker against the 10th-place Bulls and eighth-place Magic, but for this exercise, we need a guaranteed better record than the ninth-place team (or, to be more precise, the team with the fewest losses outside the current top-eight. The Wizards have played the fewest games in the Eastern Conference, so it can get a little tricky).

You can apply the magic-number math to any two teams. For example, the Bucks magic number to finish ahead of the current No. 2 team (the Toronto Raptors, at 39-14) is 83-45-14. The Bucks magic number to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference is 24.

It won't be done by the break, but Milwaukee can still set the record

Milwaukee would have three more games after the all-star break before Feb. 25 and a fourth on that day itself. If Milwaukee wins all five of its six games on or before Feb. 25, it will have clinched a playoff berth and matched the Warriors for the earliest clinch in NBA history. That seems pretty reasonable, especially when you consider every loss by the Wizards means one less win Milwaukee needs, and Milwaukee's game Feb. 24 is a head-to-head with the Wizards, so it could be worth two points off the magic number.

Schedules

Bucks on or before Feb. 25 (the record for earliest playoff clinch)

Feb. 10 vs. Sacramento (21-31)

Feb. 12 at Indiana (31-22)

Feb. 20 at Detroit (19-36)

Feb. 22 vs. Philadelphia (33-21)

Feb. 24 at Washington (18-33)

Feb. 25 at Toronto (39-14)

Wizards on or before Feb. 25

Feb. 11 vs. Chicago (19-35)

Feb. 12 at New York (17-37)

Feb. 21 vs. Cleveland (13-40)

Feb. 23 at Chicago (19-35)

Feb. 24 at Milwaukee (45-7)

Any combination of Bucks wins or losses by the ninth-place team (currently the Wizards) equaling 5 will secure a playoff berth. The earliest date any team has clinched a playoff berth is Feb. 25. Records through Feb. 9.

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.