Bucks clinch playoff berth despite 122-109 loss to Knicks
The Milwaukee Bucks lost their fourth straight game and for the sixth time in seven games in a disappointing 122-109 loss to the New York Knicks Sunday at Fiserv Forum.
“You need a win, you need something to go your way," Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said of getting out of this stretch. "I’ve been through it. But this team is too talented, in my opinion, to go through this. No matter who’s been in and out. Every team has guys out. So I gotta figure that out.”
The last time the Bucks lost four in a row was last season from Dec. 21-28. Before that was when the team dropped five straight from Feb. 10-18 in the 2020-21 championship season.
“Not a good feeling," Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "Definitely not a good feeling. Kind of the environment of the team doesn’t feel right. Like, once you start losing game(s) and then you play more tensed up, play more timid out there.
"But at the end of the day just gotta, you know, stay in it. Double down. Work harder. Lock in. At the end of the day, through this, you hope that you get better. It’s good. Like, things doesn’t always have to be good and be smooth and win the whole games and six in a row and five in a row and whatever the case might be.
"Sometimes you gotta be here. So, when you face adversity like this, moving forward in the playoffs and your life you kind of know what to expect and you do the same thing. If you’re a worker, you go back to what you know best, which is you work harder. If you’re not a worker, you probably gonna be in this loop for awhile.”
Despite the loss, the Bucks (47-31) clinched a playoff berth and remain a game clear of the Knicks (46-32) and the Orlando Magic (46-32) for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
BOX SCORE: Knicks 122, Bucks 109
The Bucks also lost all-star forward Khris Middleton to injury in the game, as he was hit hard in the mouth in the second quarter with the Bucks up 10 points.
The Knicks were similarly struggling coming into the game, having lost four of their last five. But the Bucks had no answer for star point guard Jalen Brunson on the defensive end and their offense went ice cold in the second half.
Brunson was unstoppable again for the Knicks, scoring 43 points on 32 shots. It was the second 40-point game Brunson had against the Bucks this season. He also handed out eight assists.
"Probably just getting downhill a lot," Bucks forward Bobby Portis said of Brunson. "Obviously he's good in the midrange. Good with using the glass. The flip shots in the paint that over the years guards have kind of perfected and works good for him. Killed us, man. Killed us all year long though, so wasn't nothing new. Probably try to get the ball out his hands if we see him down the line and make someone else beat us."
Donte DiVincenzo added 26 and Isaiah Hartenstein had 16 for New York.
Milwaukee was led by Antetokounmpo's 28 points and 15 rebounds. Portis came off the bench to score 28. Damian Lillard had 23 points -- 14 of which came on free throws. He was 4 of 11 from the field and 1 of 7 from behind the three-point line. Brook Lopez added 13 points.
Milwaukee faces Boston on Tuesday and hosts Orlando in the Fiserv Forum regular season finale on Wednesday.
"Just stick with it, man," Portis said. "Take the punches, man. Everything is not always gonna go your way. Everything ain't all gone my way in my career but you just gotta stay with it, man. the only way to keep going is to find a way and get one win. And once that win (happens) it feels great. It's kind of crazy, man, it feels like it's the end of the world but when we look on the standings we're number two so it's not as bad as everybody thinks. Just gotta make a few little tweaks here and there and keep the confidence building. The biggest thing is staying confident, not letting your confidence deter once adversity hits, staying confident and playing for each other."
Bucks go cold in second half as Knicks rally
Milwaukee was an incredibly crisp 20-for-38 (52%) from the floor in the first half, as they took a 61-50 lead on New York – and looked to have found the pace they’d been searching for in handing out 17 assists on those made field goals.
But in the third quarter, they began the frame 1-for-6 and turned it over three times in an over six-minute stretch that saw the Knicks pull within 70-67. And unfortunately for Milwaukee, they could never recapture that early momentum and movement while New York just kept plugging away.
“Just thought we came out flat," Rivers said. "I used two timeouts within five minutes or six minutes. I wish I knew why, but we did.”
The Bucks were 8-for-17 in the quarter for 24 points while the Knicks were an incredible 14-for-19 (73.7%) – including 4 of 5 from behind the three-point line.
Suddenly, the Bucks found themselves down a basket to start the fourth quarter. A couple minutes into the fourth, they were down 12 at 99-87.
Over the first 14 minutes, 49 seconds of the second half, New York outscored the Bucks 49-26. Milwaukee never recovered from there. In part, it was because the ball once again stopped moving on offense. The Bucks had 10 assists in the second half.
“You get (17) assists on 20 baskets in the first half, it’s clear that the ball is moving and I think when the ball is moving everybody’s involved, you know, everybody’s playing a part in us having success," Lillard said. "And then when you stop doing that, guys are less involved. And I don’t want to say that means people weren’t gonna do their jobs because they’re not touching the ball but when you are touching it and when you are involved that’s contagious and it creates energy for the team.
" So, I think it is connected to when we stop playing that way, we play worse offense. Our offense is just worse. It’s more predictable. It’s easier to stop. And our offense ends up hurting our defense because now we not getting set, we playing against teams in transition, we’re cross-matched, the floor is open and it’s just harder to get stops. When that starts to happen it’s hard to keep teams down. And I think that’s what we’ve been up against a few times.”
Bucks clinch playoff spot
Milwaukee clinched at least the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs thanks to a combination of an Orlando win and a Miami loss earlier in the day.
It officially marked the eighth consecutive season the franchise has made the postseason.
It is the second-longest active playoff streak in the league, behind only Boston (10). It is also second-longest streak in team history, trailing only a 12-year run from 1979-91.
Milwaukee remains in control of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with four games to play, but before the game Rivers said he had not been watching the standings.
“I know we have to win games, right,” he said. “If we win games everything takes care of itself. I can guarantee you we’re not trying not to. So, that’s how I’ve always viewed it. Like, let’s just win games and wherever it ends, it ends. It’s going to be hard, the East. Period. The first round, it’s going to be hard. Second round. I mean, the East – both conferences. The one thing we’re not doing is trying to figure out matchups, because that’s impossible anyway. So, we’re just trying to win now. But more importantly we’re trying to win and be healthy and have great rhythm. If we can get all those three done, then we’ll be very happy.”
While the Bucks have struggled mightily of late, the rest of the playoff teams outside of Boston had been going through rough waters at the same time. So, Milwaukee has never lost its grip on the two seed.
New York had lost four of five but the win kept them within shouting distance of Milwaukee at 46-32. Orlando beat Chicago on Sunday to match the Knicks at 46-32.
Cleveland blew a 21-point halftime lead on the Los Angeles Clippers earlier on Sunday to fall to 46-33. The Cavaliers have now lost three in a row and five of seven.
The Bucks host the Magic on Wednesday in their regular season finale at Fiserv Forum. The two teams end the regular season in a matinee in Florida on April 14.
On a broader level, the Bucks had lost two of the previous five games with their Big Three of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard playing. In the second of those games, a loss in New Orleans on March 28, Lillard missed time getting stitches in his bottom lip and the pulled his right groin in the fourth quarter. Then against the Knicks, Middleton was lost with an injury.
“I would say if we were all healthy and dropping games and playing, the urgency talk would be a lot higher because that would mean we’re not playing well with all our guys,” Rivers said on April 5 after Antetokounmpo had been ruled out with pain in his left hamstring. “I think in this case, you do want the second seed, but you also – could Giannis play (against the Raptors)? Absolutely. But, listen, you gotta make a choice. And our choice is health, first, and seeding second, I guess would be the way we would look at it."
Should the Bucks capture the No. 2 seed, they would not know their first-round opponent until the conclusion of the play-in tournament.
“I think for us it’s just the fact that we should be two if we do what we’re supposed to be doing,” Lillard said. “But regardless of who you match up against. It’s going to be a tough out. Every team that we could be matched up with and that we’re going to have to see on the journey is going to be a tough one. So it’s just a matter of being at home as much as we can and being the best version of ourselves sin that process. I think that’s what the issue is more than anything.”
Khris Middleton exits game with injury
The Bucks' all-star was hit in the face by Donte DiVincenzo after DiVincenzo missed a shot in the second quarter, and while Middleton lay on the floor he was hit again when Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein fell on him on a putback. Middleton went right to the locker room and was immediately ruled out with mouth trauma, per the team.
Sunday marked the 41st game Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Middleton played together – but it was just the seventh under head coach Doc Rivers.
The trio played three straight games together at the start of Rivers’ tenure from Jan. 29-Feb. 3, and then again from March 24-28. The Bucks were 2-4 in those games – but they lost those contests by a total of 20 points.
More: Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton exits game vs. Knicks with mouth injury
Giannis Antetokounmpo plays through hamstring injury
The Bucks’ superstar began the day as questionable to play with left hamstring tendinopathy, which is pain and/or swelling in the area connects the muscle to the bone. He had missed the Bucks’ last game with the injury and was clearly hobbled in a loss to Memphis on April 5.
Antetokounmpo led the team with 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.
Sunday is the beginning of the final week of regular season play for Milwaukee, which includes back-to-back games against Boston and Orlando on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Antetokounmpo has missed three games in total while managing the hamstring injury, which he said he first felt back on March 10 in Los Angeles.
"He was just healthy," Rivers said of Antetokounmpo playing vs. the Knicks. "He's missed games because he really...obviously if it were playoff games, yeah, he would've played. But in a regular season game, at any point, he would have not played in those games. He just wasn't ready to play. And so we're taking that very seriously, you know. He's not on a minute restriction but we're definitely monitoring his minutes tonight and for the rest of the season. We're probably not going to play him his normal minutes until the playoffs."
Yet, Antetokounmpo played 39 minutes against New York and was 10 of 20 from the field and 8 of 11 from the free throw line.
Against Memphis on April 3, Antetokounmpo was in obvious discomfort and grabbed at his left leg on several occasions. In 32 minutes, he was 10-for-23 from the floor and Rivers acknowledged he thought about pulling the star.
But before the Knicks game, Rivers said he wouldn't be the one that pulls the star from the game.
"I still don't make the call -- I just won't," Rivers said. "I've been wrong on that. I turn to the trainer and to our science people and they tell us. I just think it's a safer way. Coaches should not be evaluating health, 'cause in case no one would ever be injured."
Five numbers
3-2 Bucks record vs. the Knicks this season. Because they were matched up in the In-Season Tournament, the teams faced one another five teams. Milwaukee also faced Indiana five times.
8-11 Three-point performance by New York guard Donte DiVincenzo, who played for the Bucks from 2018-22. DiVincenzo was not known as a shooter back in his Milwaukee days but has since become a marksman, and he ended all hopes of a Bucks rally in the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers that made it 117-103 with a couple minutes left.
33.8% Malik Beasley’s three-point shooting (21 of 62) during the Bucks’ skid. The shooting guard has been among the league leaders all season in three-point shooting, but he hasn’t seen a ton of shots go down of late – and it’s not a surprise that it has coincided with the Bucks’ recent offensive woes.
On Sunday, Beasley was limited by foul trouble as he picked up five in defending Brunson.
35 Additional points for the Knicks following 13 offensive rebounds (19 points) and 14 Bucks turnovers (16 points) for the Knicks.
Rivers: "That’s it. That’s the game for us right now. The second chance points, we have to get the ball off the floor. We have t do that better. We have to chase rebound down. We showed some clips tat halftime where the ball was there, and it was u s and them and we would reach for it and they would run through it and get it. Then the turnovers come from our bad offense. We have to be better offensively.”
218 and 215 Made three-pointers this season by Malik Beasley and Damian Lillard. The pair are chasing down the franchise record of 229 set by Ray Allen in 2001-02.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks clinch playoff berth despite 122-109 loss to Knicks
