The Milwaukee Bucks ended their brief three-game road trip on Saturday with a tough loss to the Houston Rockets, 112-108. It was far from the result the Bucks were hoping for against a now 18-16 Rockets side, but the fact that Milwaukee failed to live up to their own lofty standards on Saturday night only meant that they were bound to lose.
Unsurprisingly, Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t at all pleased by all this.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Calls Out Milwaukee Bucks
The 108 points the Bucks scored against Houston is their second-lowest point tally this season. However, this is not the issue Antetokounmpo decided to harp on after the game. According to the seven-time All-Star, what led to his team’s downfall against Houston was their defense — or rather, the lack thereof:
“Offense is gonna be there some nights, and, some nights, it’s not going to be there,” Antetokounmpo said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Your defensive effort, though, has got to be there. And defensively, our effort was not there. There was no pride. Guys were just driving the ball, straight-line drive, getting to the paint, over-helping, shooting 3s, offensive rebounds. There was nothing. This was not the Milwaukee Bucks. This is not who we are.”
The Bucks Just Didn’t Have Enough
The fact that the Bucks allowed the Rockets to score 63 points in the first half to carry a massive 20-point lead into the break speaks volumes of Milwaukee’s lackluster effort on both ends of the floor. Giannis and Co. rallied in the second half to try and mount a comeback but ultimately, their effort fell short.
“The second half, we were better,” Antetokounmpo said. “Third quarter, we were better. Fourth quarter, we were better. We won both quarters. Yeah, we went out there and competed. We make it harder, pre-switch, fronted the post, put our hands in the ball, made it tough for them, got every rebound that we could. We made it tough. That’s who we are.
“In the first half, we didn’t do that. And it’s not good, man. ‘Cause right now we’re playing a type of basketball, especially defensively, that is not us. We have to be better. In order for us to win, we have to be better. We cannot just rely on our offense of scoring 130 points, 140 points every single night. It’s not going to work that way. It’s not going to work that way.”
He’s not wrong.
The Bucks are back in action on Monday against the Utah Jazz, which will be an opportunity for them to get back to the defensive identity Giannis has been calling for.
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