The Milwaukee Bucks (47-30) became the fourth NBA team to lose three straight games against an opponent with 50 or more losses, in Friday night’s 117-111 defeat to the Toronto Raptors (24-53).
Milwaukee joined the 1990-91 Wizards, 2017-18 Magic, and 2021-22 Trail Blazers. The Bucks have now lost five of six and their latest defeat was against a Raptors team that entered the game having lost 15 in a row.
The Bucks entered having lost 117-113 against the Washington Wizards (15-63) on Tuesday and 111-101 versus the Memphis Grizzlies (27-50) on Wednesday. Milwaukee fell to 32-16 against Eastern Conference teams this season.
Per a few NBA betting sites, the Bucks hold fourth-shortest odds to win the championship. Sportsbooks are showing better odds for the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Clippers.
Tough stretch for the Bucks 😬 pic.twitter.com/xHORJ65lyo
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 6, 2024
Milwaukee also became the first team to lose three consecutive games as double-digit favorites. The Bucks were favored by 13 points at Washington, 12.5 against Memphis, and 14.5 versus Toronto.
“The last three were against pretty bad teams,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “And, to me, that’s inexcusable. For all of us. … I’m frustrated, and they’re frustrated. I guess that’s the good thing.
“But that’s not going to get you anywhere. Frustration gets you nowhere. We gotta work ourselves through this. You can feel it; you literally can. You can feel it during the game, and you go through these things.
“I’ve been through ‘em. You do. And you gotta work yourself out of ‘em. Even one of the officials said it, ‘Man, you can feel the heaviness of your team right now.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ And that happens. But we have to play ourselves through it.”
Milwaukee Bucks fell to 15-16 since Doc Rivers replaced Adrian Griffin as head coach on Jan. 26
Milwaukee, playing without the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, could have clinched a playoff spot with a win. Damian Lillard scored a team-high 36 points, whereas Gary Trent Jr. led the Raptors with 31.
Furthermore, the Bucks dropped to 15-16 since Rivers took over as coach for Adrian Griffin on Jan. 26. The trio of Antetokounmpo, Lillard, and Khris Middleton has been together in just six of those games.
Under Griffin earlier this season, Milwaukee went 30-13 and had the second-best offensive rating and 21st-rated defensive ranking. The Bucks now sit 16th in offensive rating and 12th in defensive ranking.
The Bucks are lost right now. They’ve lost three games in a row to three sub-.500 teams.
“I just feel like we’re a lot better than that. We’re a more mature and responsible team than we’ve shown.” – Damian Lillard
On the flailing Bucks, at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/6peQl5EzUY
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 6, 2024
“These are situations where we’ve just got to have discipline and get the job done, and we haven’t,” Lillard said. “But if you ask anybody in the league, they’ll tell you these are some of the hardest times of the season.
“We’ve got to take accountability. Even if it was one of these games, it’s all right, the next two should be handled. So, to have three of them is disappointing. We’ve just got to do better.”
The Bucks hold a one-game lead on the No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers (46-31) and remain two games ahead of the No. 4 Orlando Magic (45-32) and No. 5 New York Knicks (45-32).
