With health issues, a banned player, and inability to beat the top teams in their conference, the Milwaukee Bucks problems are piling up.
With Damian Lillard out until further notice due to a blood clot diagnosis, the Milwaukee Bucks are reeling.
Doc Rivers has been defiantly optimistic about his team’s capabilities to push through, but the Bucks are already feeling the impact of the absence of their superstar guard.
On March 29, Milwaukee suffered yet another blow, enduring a 116-107 home loss against the New York Knicks.
The defeat means the Bucks (40-33) are now the sixth-seeded team on the Eastern Conference. In the wake of the Detroit Pistons’ dramatic rise while losing eight of their last 12 games, they have slipped down the standings.
The Bucks have failed to win in any regular season games against the Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Boston Celtics, the current top-three teams in the East.
This is alarming for Milwaukee considering that there is a significant chance that they will have to go through them in the playoffs, and could face the No. 3 Knicks as early as the first round. But in the end, Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t care less about it.
“If we have the opportunity to see (New York) in the playoffs, or whoever we see in the playoffs, we have to be the toughest, nastiest team out there, he said in postgame after dropping 30 points on a losing effort.
“We have to. That’s the only chance we’re gonna get to be good. We’re gonna watch film, we’re gonna be better.”
Giannis further explained: “The last six years I have been, I think three times the No. 1 team in the East, No. 1 team in the NBA. I’ve been twice, I think, third. I’ve been one time fourth. It doesn’t really matter.
“I’ve played against Toronto in the Eastern Conference Finals (in 2019) and in the regular season we beat them 4-0, or 3-0 — they never beat us. We were the No. 1 seed in the East and we lost from Miami, that was the No. 8 seed and they went all the way to the Finals (in 2023).
“Like, at the end of the day, the only thing I think about is we have the regular season, nine games left, and then we have two months to change our lives. That’s pretty much it. You gotta lock in two months, and stay healthy, and go out there and compete. That’s all you gotta think about.
“I’m not going to think about what happened in December when we lost to the Knicks or Boston. It doesn’t really matter. When you get into the playoffs, anything can happen.”
With Lillard out indefinitely, Antetokounmpo is slated to carry a heavy burden of responsibility for the Bucks for the remainder of the year. The Greek superstar has been one of the league’s MVP candidates, averaging 30.2 points per game with 12.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per 34.0 minutes.
But he alone won’t be able to lift the Bucks in their desired position as even argued by a former NBA star. For this, Antetokounmpo can only rely on the likes of Brook Lopez, the returning Bobby Portis, and several other wildcard players to help him.
As difficult as the challenge it might be to continue pursuing a championship without their franchise guard, Antetokounmpo remains spirited about his team’s chances when they are all clicking and in harmony.
“This is who we are,” Antetokounmpo said.
“Obviously Bobby [Portis] is going to be back in a few games. It’s going to help us. Jericho [Sims] is going to be back and going to be bigger to give Brook a break.
“We have to keep on watching film as a team and keep on coming together and try to figure out ways to win games.”
