Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 128-125 loss to Denver Nuggets

DENVER, CO - APRIL 1: (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 1: (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – APRIL 1: (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – APRIL 1: (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /

A game of runs

With the exception of overtime, not one period of Sunday’s game at the Pepsi Center was decided by a margin of 12 points or less.

The Bucks outscored the Nuggets by 12 points and 22 points in the first and third quarters respectively, while the Nuggets outscored the Bucks by 21 points and 13 points in the second and fourth quarters respectively.

A game of runs may be one of the oldest cliches in basketball, but rarely has it been more true than it was in this instance. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the kind of game the Bucks needed to find themselves in.

That’s not to say that giving up big runs isn’t a common feature of Milwaukee’s play this season, but considering the context of this game, it was always going to be difficult for the Bucks to answer back with one final push if the game was to unfold in the way it ultimately did.

The visceral and disastrous manner in which the Bucks came unstuck at the end will stick long in the mind for players and fans alike, but it’s not as if Milwaukee being outscored by 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime combined was inexplicable.

This game marked the final game of a week-long road trip for the Bucks, was the team’s third game in four days, ultimately their second overtime game in three days, and it came at the highest altitude venue in the NBA.

Well-rested road teams can struggle coming into the Mile High City, and that’s certainly not what the Bucks were on Sunday. It doesn’t excuse the desperate decision-making that cost them a win, but it may help to explain it.

Milwaukee’s intensity brought them strong starts to both halves, but the Nuggets always looked like the team more ready to finish strong.