Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 128-125 loss to Denver Nuggets
By Adam McGee
A comedy of errors
As the fourth quarter came to an end on Sunday night, it was clear that the joke was on the Bucks this April Fool’s Day.
The game ended up in overtime through the most improbable sequence of events, in what can only be described as a comedy of errors on Milwaukee’s part.
If the Bucks’ lead didn’t seem safe when they were up by eight points with just over a minute to go, it certainly did when they were up by three, with the ball, with just 4.9 seconds left.
After a Bucks timeout, Joe Prunty’s team advanced the ball toward half court. On the first attempt, Khris Middleton quickly found Eric Bledsoe, who was wrapped up almost immediately by Torrey Craig.
With the Bucks not in the bonus, that foul forced a reload. On the second try, Khris Middleton wasn’t as successful, reacting poorly to pressure from the Nuggets and tossing a pass into the backcourt in the direction of Jason Terry, who was beaten to the ball by Jamal Murray.
After swiping the steal, Murray drove toward the arc and fired up a desperation three-pointer that rimmed out, but only as the trailing Terry reached out and caught the shooter on the arm. Murray’s legs certainly kicked out, as Terry and Prunty were keen to point out after the game, but the defensive foul was much more apparent than any potential claim at an offensive foul.
As Murray knocked down all three free throws to tie up the game, the cameras fixed on Terry. There’s a valid argument to be made that Terry shouldn’t have been on the floor in a situation like that for the very reason that he may struggle to keep up with a faster guard. Regardless, the veteran should have known better than to risk giving up the foul.
Still, there was plenty of blame to go around. When the ball was inbounded, the Bucks still had a timeout remaining. It was one that was ultimately called after Murray’s free throws, but why neither Middleton or Prunty took the timeout before the pass came in is a mystery.
The Bucks just needed to get the ball in to a player in a black jersey to essentially close out the game. It’s not just hindsight to say it would have been better to be safe than sorry.
When play resumed, the Bucks still had one more chance to potentially seal a win in regulation, but another error denied them that possibility as Eric Bledsoe’s heel touched down on the sideline with 1.7 seconds remaining.
In the end, the Bucks were lucky that a Nikola Jokic heave didn’t fall to end the game in regulation, but considering how they’d coughed up their lead in the minute prior, that probably would have been a fitting conclusion all the same.