3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ unpleasant loss to Charlotte Hornets

The Milwaukee Bucks desperately need reinforcements as everyone not named Antetokounmpo, Middleton, or Portis struggled to contribute

Aside from Milwaukee’s top three available players, everyone else on the roster looked like a deer in headlights throughout the entire matchup. Given how many typical rotation players the Bucks are currently missing, they needed everyone to embrace that next man up mentality, but that was far from the case.

Jordan Nwora and Wesley Matthews both notched starts for Milwaukee for the second straight game together, and neither looked particularly good. Nwora, who typically thrives when he gets a larger opportunity, could not score consistently all night as he tallied just three points on 1-of-11 shooting in nearly 31 minutes. Matthews was better as he contributed nine points, but he shot a lackluster 3-of-10 to get there. A 4-of-21 shooting night from the starting backcourt is not going to get the job done, but that failed in comparison to how horrid the bench was.

Milwaukee’s lone bench points of the night came from Sandro Mamukelashvili, who tallied five in his limited minutes. That means Rodney Hood, Langston Galloway, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, and Semi Ojeleye all went scoreless as they shot a grueling 0-of-15 from the floor as a unit. The Bucks will not win many games where everyone not named G. Antetokounmpo, Middleton, and Portis combine to shoot an abysmal 6-of-36 from the floor.

Thankfully, reinforcements should be on the way soon for the Bucks. Darvin Ham, who is filling in for head coach Mike Budenholzer while he is in the health and safety protocols, told reporters before the game that Jrue Holiday had indeed exited the protocols. Though Holiday is reportedly dealing with a sore ankle, he may return to the lineup Monday. That would be as big of a boost as any, but the Bucks are also waiting on Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, and Donte DiVincenzo to make their way back into the lineup. Obviously, having some of these players back in the mix will make a massive difference for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks will look to get revenge against the Hornets as they will square off again this Monday at 6:00 p.m. CST on Bally Sports Wisconsin.