After a good stretch, the Milwaukee Bucks have lost back-to-back games with Sunday night's defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers showing they are still not quite there as contenders.
The team atop the Eastern Conference ran out 112-100 winners, which highlighted a clear difference between those top contenders and the Bucks. Milwaukee is yet to beat the Cavs, Boston Celtics or New York Knicks this season, and despite keeping it somewhat close, one team looked far more fluid than the other.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led with 30 points, and Damian Lillard scored 22, leading as usual. Yet, this time, they just didn't get much else from their teammates outside of 14 points from Kyle Kuzma. Cleveland had five players score double digits, with their five bench players also adding at least five points each. The top two for the Bucks will always turn up, but they need more from the rest of the team if they want to be considered true contenders.
The Bucks are good not great, lacking in areas the top teams excel
Cleveland is excellent on both ends of the floor, leading the league with an offensive rating of 122.0 and defensive rating of 110.9, which has them in the top seven in the NBA. It was obvious that the Milwaukee Bucks are just a tier below their opponents as they lack the fluidity on both ends of the floor and played with a certain stiffness about them.
Playing on a back-to-back over the weekend does have its cons, but missing defensive assignments and having a lack of offensive gameplan outside of isolations is a difficult watch. It is a bit of a reality check this run against the top three teams in the East and makes it difficult to see the Milwaukee Bucks overcoming those teams in the playoffs.
Taurean Prince and Brook Lopez struggled offensively and didn't add much, AJ Green scored just two points and Gary Trent Jr. made just one of his nine shot attempts. All of that left a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Giannis, Lillard and Kuzma. As a team, they shot 9-of-31 (29 percent) from three, while their opponents made 19-of-47 (40.4 percent). That, of course, was a huge factor in the loss.
That unselfish offense from the Cavs that ended with 25 assists to the Bucks' 17 showed the difference in playstyles that comes down to both the coaching staff and the players. Some strange shot attempts and contested jumpers just showed how clear a difference there is between the Central Division teams.
Since the All-Star weekend, the Bucks have shown good signs, and these two losses are a kick in the teeth and maybe a reality check as to where they really are. The duo of Lillard and Giannis is continuing to grow and the season is far from done with how those two rise when the postseason starts. The offensive gameplan needs some tweaking, and without Bobby Portis, they don't have his scoring off the bench, so they need to find another way.
In a seven-game series, no one will want to face a Giannis and Lillard combo, but the top team's confidence is growing with every win they get over the Milwaukee Bucks. It is far from done, but the Bucks still need to find solutions to be real contenders.
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