Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 99-88 loss to Washington Wizards

The Milwaukee Bucks lost their second consecutive contest against the Washington Wizards on Monday night. What were some of the key takeaways from the disappointing night?

After the being dismantled by the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night the Milwaukee Bucks were looking for a bounceback performance against the Washington Wizards. That did not happen. Despite playing at home, against a Wizards team that was on the second half of a back-to-back the Bucks lost their second straight on Monday night.

The loss drops Milwaukee to 8-8 and currently ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Yes, it’s very early in the season, but I’m sure Milwaukee’s players and coaches did not picture themselves sitting between Indiana and Orlando with the season nearly 20-percent complete.

At first glance the loss would not appear concerning. Washington is a capable team and were picked by many as the closest challenger to the Cleveland Cavaliers after the Gordon Hayward injury.

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At a closer look the loss becomes more worrisome, though. The Wizards were playing in back-to-back road games, as well as, their third game in four nights. The Wizards also had the challenge of welcoming back John Wall after a one game absence, missing the previous contest with a sore left knee. He appeared rusty in his return, only scoring 15 points on sub-par shooting.

The Bucks did have some obstacles of their own as the team was playing short-handed. Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic both missed the game due to injury, and coach Jason Kidd was absent due to the birth of his child.

Neither of those issues are a valid excuse for a second consecutive loss. At .500 the Bucks will need to start playing better if they want to be considered a serious Eastern Conference contender.

With all of that being said, lets take a look at some of the key takeaways from Monday’s performance against the Wizards.