Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 126-104 loss to San Antonio Spurs
Shooting the lights out
While the Bucks struggled to hit shots consistently on the night, the same couldn’t be said of the Spurs by any measure.
San Antonio put on an offensive clinic Monday night as they exacted their revenge on the Bucks by putting in one of their most efficient performances on their season so far, as evidenced by the 129.9 offensive rating they tallied, per NBA.com/stats. That’s the third-highest mark the Spurs have recorded in that department this year.
And a big key to the Spurs’ showing was their ability to go 19-of-35 from downtown, good for 54.3 percent and the second-best 3-point shooting display they’ve enjoyed in a game this season.
On the flip side, the Spurs’ offensive rating represents the worst defensive rating the Bucks have come away with this season. Combine that with their offensive struggles and the Bucks also finished the night with their worst net rating for a contest this season.
It all continues a trend where, in the very few losses the Bucks have had this season, the opponents that have handed them each one of their six defeats have gone on to compile astonishing shooting performances and season-high outings, in some cases.
https://twitter.com/tmjgarcia/status/1214393804649881600
With everything coming so easy for the Spurs from all levels of the floor and little adjustments made in mind to limit or bother their shots from both mid-range and from beyond the arc, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer took ownership of the defeat.
Coach Mike Budenholzer takes blame for Spurs loss: “I probably could’ve done a better job of coaching. Maybe adjusted earlier, quicker so I think I need to be better.”
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) January 7, 2020
Of course, the loss doesn’t squarely fall at the feet of Budenholzer as many aspects of the Bucks’ performance were simply out of his control. Even so, we’ll just have to see if there will be any adjustments when a similar night comes the Bucks’ way in the future.