It has been a weird season for the Milwaukee Bucks, with them showing signs of being a real problem with their NBA Cup win over the Oklahoma City Thunder but also losing all their games to the Brooklyn Nets and now being 0-8 against the top three teams in the Eastern Conference.
Sunday night's heavy defeat to the New York Knicks compounded the thought that the Bucks really aren't on that level of contending at the top of the East. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard can win you any game, but the Bucks have really struggled against the Knicks, Celtics and Cavaliers.
Milwaukee now sits sixth in the East with a 20-17 record. A win over the Indiana Pacers at the turn of the year showed some signs of improvement, but even wins over the injury-hit Orlando Magic were made more difficult than they should have been.
After the 140-106 defeat at Madison Square Garden, Giannis Antetokounmpo did not hold back on the Milwaukee Bucks' playoff hopes.
"We've gotta get our stuff together," says Giannis after another loss
The two-time MVP has been in contention to win the award again with how well he has been playing, but the rest of the Bucks are really struggling to back him up and take down the top three in the conference. Khris Middleton's return hasn't had the spark the Bucks hoped for, but what can be expected of a guy in his 30s after double ankle surgery?
After Sunday's game, Giannis said, "We've gotta get our stuff together. It's as simple as that. We did not beat Boston. We did not beat the Cavs. We didn't beat the Knicks. Those are the top three teams, and we've played horribly against them."
Those comments are very reminiscent of the Bucks' previous time at the Garden when he called out the competitive spirit of the roster when Milwaukee dropped to 2-7. The gulf is clear between the Milwaukee Bucks and those teams.
Cleveland, Boston and New York all occupy the top three spots in the offensive rating in the NBA, with the Cavs at 121.2 and the others at 119.2. Milwaukee finds themselves down at 14th with just a 112.3 offensive rating, even behind the Chicago Bulls and just ahead of the Detroit Pistons. That is a big difference, with the Bucks actually registering a and only slightly behind both the Cavs and Celtics.
All three contenders have shown they won't give away easy games, and the Bucks just haven't shown yet that they are capable of beating them. Lillard chimed in to say, "We have to key in, look at why, figure out the context and move forward."
The Bucks do have plenty of tough games coming up, with them taking on some of the top Western Conference teams, along with the Sixers, Magic and Heat that will be tough games.
One key run is in March, where they face the Mavericks, Magic, Cavaliers, Pacers twice, Lakers twice and the Thunder all in the space of a week. That will be telling with teams ramping up for the postseason. They won't see the Celtics again until the postseason potentially, and the Knicks visit Milwaukee in late March, so the Bucks will have a chance to make amends.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks news and analysis.