On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks were on the receiving end of a humbling at the hands of the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The Western Conference giants thrashed the visitors 125-90 and handed them their second-biggest loss of the season. The loss to the Warriors snapped the Bucks’ six-game winning streak and left them with a 0.5-game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the race for the second spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Advertisement
This brutal loss came despite Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s return from an Achilles injury. The two-time MVP scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished six assists, but was powerless in stopping the Warriors hand his team one of their worst beatdowns of the season.
Additionally, Antetokounmpo’s Achilles injury doesn’t seem to heal completely. His name is once again on the team’s injury list, as per the official injury report, ahead of their game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena. However, the Bucks superstar has been listed as ‘probable’ for the game, which means that he’ll suit up against the Lakers and look to steer his team back on the winning track.
Bucks’ life under new head coach Doc Rivers
The Milwaukee Bucks have now played 17 games under Doc Rivers‘ tutelage with a 9-8 record. The veteran head coach, who was surprisingly hired to lead the team after they fired rookie head coach, Adrian Griffin, did not have a merry start to life in Milwaukee. They were 3-7 at the All-Star break, a far cry from the 31-13 record that Griffin led them to before getting sacked.
The one-week break reinvigorated the Bucks and they caught fire. Milwaukee ripped off six straight wins and was exceptional on both ends of the court. They had seemingly found their footing under Rivers and looked like title contenders, but the loss to the Warriors has somewhat deflated the momentum. Milwaukee will brush the pummeling in San Francisco as an anomaly and aim to play and perform as they did in the first six games after the All-Star break.
The Bucks won’t catch the 48-14 Boston Celtics in the race for the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference standings unless they have a monumental meltdown in the home stretch of the regular season. The Bucks will focus on finishing second and earning home-field advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs and potentially the NBA Finals. They are still a work in progress with Rivers in charge, but they are on the right path.
