THE The Milwaukee Bucks managed to vary issues after a nightmarish begin to the 2024-25 season; They’re 9-1 of their final 10 video games heading into Wednesday night time’s matchup in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks, climbing all the way in which into the highest 5 within the mediocre Japanese Convention. However all good issues should come to an finish, as they hit a roadblock on the second night time of a row, struggling a 119-104 loss to the Hawks.
There is not any disgrace in dropping to the Hawks; in any case, they’re the one workforce to beat the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers to date this season. And the schedule hasn’t completed the Bucks any favors, and head coach Doc Rivers acknowledged how the disparity in relaxation between the 2 groups led to their downfall Wednesday night.
“I believed we have been deadlocked for a lot of the recreation. We’ve not been pondering rigorously, which is a direct signal of fatigue. I did not carry out very properly. Our passes have been actually late,” Rivers mentioned after the Bucks’ loss, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
Certainly, it appeared just like the Bucks have been content material to take shortcuts for a lot of the night time, taking part in sloppy basketball that simply could not fly in opposition to an energetic Hawks workforce. Atlanta had 16 steals as a workforce on the night time, and the Bucks have been responsible of a ton of inexcusable turnovers, stopping them from moving into rhythm, particularly within the second half.
Moreover, this has additionally led to some very smooth protection inside. Jalen Johnson led an all-out Hawks assault on the rim, with Atlanta scoring 64 factors within the paint to simply 34 for the Bucks — an inexcusable deficit for a workforce led by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
This fatigue additionally manifested itself of their struggles within the subject of charity; Antetokounmpo shot 15-26 from the charity stripe, leaving a ton of factors on the board for a Bucks workforce that desperately wanted extra to maintain up with the extra rested Hawks workforce.
Can the Bucks get again to successful methods in a tricky stretch forward?
Associated Milwaukee Bucks InformationArticle continues beneath
The Bucks could have turned issues round in latest weeks, however actually just one win in that span has come in opposition to a workforce at the moment above .500 (Houston Rockets). Milwaukee will thus be examined throughout its subsequent matches.
The Bucks will face the Boston Celtics on Friday night time, then they are going to look to avenge their loss to the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season on Saturday. They are going to then face the Orlando Magic within the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on December 10. It will present the Bucks’ true colours and whether or not or not they’ve actually modified issues or in the event that they merely benefited from a positive schedule.
