MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks’ up-and-down season has reached its nadir with less than two weeks left in the playoffs.
The Bucks have lost four straight games and six of their last seven. They are under 15-17 years of age Coach Dock River After going 32-14 before his arrival.
However, Milwaukee (47-31) has a one-game lead over the Orlando Magic (46-32) and New York Knicks (46-32) in the race for the No. 2 seed. eastern conference In the playoffs behind the Boston Celtics, the Bucks could face another early exit if they don’t turn things around.
“It’s definitely not a good feeling,” two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said Sunday after the Bucks. 122-109 loss For the New York Knicks. “The atmosphere in the team doesn’t seem right.”
Antetokounmpo then went into more detail about his comments about the environment.
“You don’t feel good when you lose a game,” he said. “You are not happy. If you go back home, you can’t sit and watch Amazon Prime and relax and enjoy your steak (or) some guy who drinks, drink your wine or beer or whatever they drink. Are. Or in my case, do my Lego. When I try to put my Legos in place, I get more frustrated and end up hurting my fingers and stuff. This is what I mean by not liking the atmosphere.
“We are not a losing team. We do not have such mentality. He is not in us.”
The Bucks are going through quite a bit of turmoil after posting the league’s best regular season record last year, but lost to miami heat In the first round of the playoffs.
They Coach Mike Budenholzer was fired and acquired star guard Damian Lillard. Budenholzer was replaced by Adrian Griffin. was dismissed Midway through the season despite having a 30–13 record. Joe Prunty was 2–1 before Rivers’ arrival as interim head coach.
The coaching change was a sign that the Bucks were not satisfied with their struggles on defense and uncomfortably close wins over losing teams during Griffin’s brief tenure. But inconsistency has continued under the rivers.
the bucks lost seven Rivers’ first 10 games. They won six in a row After the All-Star break. Now they are falling again.
“These are the moments where you find out who’s real and who’s not, because everybody’s saying negative things, how wrong it is and how bad it is,” Lillard said. “You can fold or not fold. Based on the experience we are getting now, this is what we will learn going into the playoffs.
Any comparison of the records under Griffin and Rivers must take into account the extenuating circumstances.
Milwaukee’s schedule became much more difficult following the coaching change. Sunday’s loss to the Knicks marked only the fourth time in the last 29 games that Antetokounmpo, Lillard and three-time All-Star Khris Middleton were all available, and Middleton left after suffering a mouth injury midway through the second quarter. Those three players were together for about two-thirds of the pre-River games, although Middleton was on a minutes restriction for many of them.
But even without all of their top players, the Bucks have more talent than they have Washington Magician, memphis grizzlies And toronto Raptors. All three of those teams beat the Bucks last week.
“In my opinion, this team is very talented, no matter who has gone in and out,” Rivers said. “Every team has people out. “I’ve got to figure it out.”
Reserve guard Pat Connaughton said after the loss to the Raptors that the Bucks need to play with more joy. Antetokounmpo agreed with that assessment on Sunday.
“It’s almost like we’re going through the motions,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have to get that joy back. We have to move the ball to get that joy back. …When everybody touches the ball, everybody has that energy.”
The Bucks don’t have much time to figure it out before the postseason. Milwaukee only has four regular season games left, and all are against playoff-bound teams. They’ll host Boston on Tuesday and Orlando on Wednesday before visiting Oklahoma City on Friday and Orlando on Sunday.
The Bucks are confident they can still turn it around because of how well they play when they are at their best. box Defeated Oklahoma City 118-93 Just before the start of this tailspin.
“Everyone kept each other accountable (against the Thunder),” Antetokounmpo said. “I think sometimes we don’t do that. We just pick and choose. But the faith is there. The belief is there. But we have to be better. During these four games, with five games left, we have to form good habits. We have to watch the movie. We have to spend time together. Because if we don’t we’ll probably get into trouble.”
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