After an initial run of success after the All-Star break, the Milwaukee Bucks have lost five of their last seven games. The situation has gotten bad enough that coach Doc Rivers called superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard into an emergency postgame meeting following a loss to the Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry.
“There are 14 games remaining in the season for the Bucks,” said Chris Haynes, the NBA insider who broke news of the meeting. “This is definitely a dire time.”
The Bucks have been a roller-coaster ride all season. Just when things seem to be clicking, they play themselves back into a new rut. Here are two big things that need to change if the team hopes to turn things around as the playoffs creep nearer.
Foundering fourths
The Bucks cannot finish games. Last season’s top-scoring team in the fourth quarter has somehow become this season’s 28th-best squad in the final frame. The team gets significantly worse by quarter:
- No. 7 in the NBA in average scoring at 30.2 (first quarter)
- No. 13 at 28.8 (second quarter)
- No. 19 at 28.9 (third quarter)
- No. 28 at 26.1 (fourth quarter)
That is not the trajectory you shoot for as a team and may have plenty to do with the aging core players running out of steam. Three recent winnable games show the different routes they take to the same fourth-quarter woes.
Against the Orlando Magic, the team squandered a late possession with a chance to tie or win. Lillard took the inbounds pass, dribbled down the 6.6 seconds left on the clock then missed a stepback 3-pointer at the buzzer. The ball stopped with Lillard. No one else touched it, despite Antetokounmpo having his way all game against the undermanned Magic.
Against the Indiana Pacers, they led by three points with just 3.9 seconds to go. On an out-of-bounds play, Taurean Prince got lost in traffic as the Pacers ran crossing routes. His man, Tyrese Haliburton, got loose and drilled a fallaway 3-pointer off the inbounds pass. Antetokounmpo did the one thing they absolutely shouldn’t do, fouling Haliburton on the shot and giving the Pacers the win with Haliburton’s free throw.
Against the Warriors, the Bucks were down three points with the ball and plenty of time left. As Antetokounmpo and Lillard schemed to start a pick-and-roll on the right side, Giannis motioned over and over to Prince to vacate the shooter’s spot in the corner. Prince didn’t heed his teammate’s furious pleas until it was too late. The spacing was off, the play broke down and the team sputtered down the stretch to another loss.
Uncleaned glass
The Bucks’ ability to rebound took a dramatic hit with Bobby Portis and his 8.3 boards a game missing 25 games due to suspension after the All-Star break. New addition Jericho Sims did a noble job filling Portis’ role as a glass-cleaner off the bench. Now, Sims is out, too, missing at least a month with an injured thumb.
What now?
If the first game without both Sims and Portis is any indication, it won’t be pretty. The Warriors owned the glass by a 52-34 margin. Kyle Kuzma snared just two rebounds, while starting center Brook Lopez had only four boards.
The Bucks have struggled on the glass all season, even at full strength. They give up 45.26 rebounds a game, seventh-worst in the NBA, against an average of 44 rebounds they collect.
They’re likely to keep struggling, with the marginally good news that at least they’ll have Portis back in 10 games and, with luck, Sims back for the playoffs. Until then, they will remain undersized and an underdog whenever the ball caroms off the rim.
Up next: road games against the Lakers on Thursday, Kings on Saturday, Suns on Monday and Nuggets on Wednesday.
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