For the third straight game, the Milwaukee Bucks took the court without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
Both have been dealing with various ailments lately, and prior to this matchup vs. the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee looked good without them, winning two in a row. It looked like they were nearing another win to make it three straight, but a Brooklyn rally ended Milwaukee's win streak, with the Nets taking a 111-105 win home from Fiserv Forum.
Bucks missed their stars in the clutch
The fourth quarter was where everything went off the rails for the Milwaukee Bucks. Looking as if they may coast to victory, Milwaukee found themselves with their backs against the wall quickly, and after leading for most of the contest, they were suddenly trailing late. A 35-23 fourth quarter scoring advantage in Brooklyn's favor pushed them past the Bucks.
Milwaukee had plenty of self-inflicted wounds in this final frame. AJ Green seemingly was unaware of the few precious seconds he had on the shot clock with the Bucks trailing late and drew a violation. Shortly after that, Bobby Portis had a turnover. Plays like this are more prone to happen when they are playing without two elite clutch-time players in Antetokounmpo and Lillard.
Time and time again, these two have shown that they can close out games - on both sides of the ball in Giannis' case - and the Milwaukee Bucks were simply missing that presence in this game. Unable to rely on these two, everyone looked a bit out of sorts and uncertain.
To his credit, Khris Middleton did what he could to will this team to victory with an array of buckets in the final frame, but even he missed a few crucial ones. If there is a silver lining from this loss, it is that Middleton continued to look good for Milwaukee, dropping 21 points while sinking some key shots late to keep the Bucks in it until the final buzzer.
It's clear that there's no need to hit the panic button after this loss. The Milwaukee Bucks need their two stars back in the fold. Let's hope the illnesses, calf issues and spasms all clear up soon so these two can get back to playing. The Bucks are back in action Saturday against the Bulls, and only time will tell if they get either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard back in the mix.
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