The Milwaukee Bucks faced a tough road test against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday evening. It was a close battle from wire to wire, but a shaky fourth quarter from the Bucks allowed the Rockets to secure a 100-97 win. Milwaukee is now 12-16 away from home and have lost yet another game to one of the western conference’s top teams.
A Woeful Display From Most of the Milwaukee Bucks Role Players
It was a rough day from Milwaukee’s supporting cast, particularly the more recent acquisitions. Kevin Porter Jr., the former Rocket, was always going to be keen on a good performance against his former team. However, outside of a highlight dunk in the second quarter, was very quiet. In 11 minutes, Porter put up 7 shots and only scored 4 points.
Two steals, two dunks for KPJ! pic.twitter.com/vxCGcnnJOb
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 26, 2025
New center Jericho Sims has made an extremely unremarkable start to his Bucks career. After four straight DNPs after coming over from the New York Knicks, Sims has now appeared in 4 consecutive games but scored just 2 points. Kyle Kuzma has been an important player for Milwaukee, but on Tuesday night, he was inefficient and only scored 9 points. By night’s end, he had the worst +/- of any player on either team.
One player who had a good night off the bench was AJ Green, who played 33 minutes due to good energy on both ends. He was 4-8, with all of his shots coming from three, and had 12 points to go with 5 rebounds. Shaquille O’Neal jokingly compared Green to former teammate Mike Penberthy, a shooting guard who won a championship with O’Neal’s Lakers in 2001. Penberthy shot almost 40% from three during the year.
The fourth quarter was a truly disappointing display from most of the team. While Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard were able to score enough to hang with Houston’s offense, the rest of the team was 0/11 from the floor with 0 total points in the final 12 minutes.
After tonight, the Bucks rank SECOND LAST in the league in 4th quarter points.
Only the Nets are averaging fewer points in the 4th 😬 pic.twitter.com/4jFdPhiAMD
— Bucks Lead (@BucksLead) February 26, 2025
4th quarter scoring is becoming a recurring issue for this Bucks team. Few teams in the NBA have less impressive figures in the final period than they do. This is absolutely something that should be a red flag for a team aiming at having postseason success.
Shaquille O’Neal Reacts to Amen Thompson’s Flagrant 2 Foul on Giannis
In the 4th quarter, Houston’s Amen Thompson committed a hard foul on Antetokounmpo to prevent him from scoring at the rim, which resulted in his ejection from the game. Recent Hall of Fame Inductee Vince Carter joked that Thompson’s foul was comparable to a finishing move in wrestling, and WNBA Legend Candace Parker agreed that it was a problematic play.
O’Neal also agreed that it was a bad foul, a surprising take given his tendency to criticize many ejections and flagrant fouls. The NBA legend frequently makes fun of the “hostile act” rules that now govern some reviews in the modern era and criticizes referees for over-officiating in many instances, but Thompson’s play, while not strictly malicious, certainly seemed worthy of the ejection.
Candace Parker and Shaquille O’Neal Debate Milwaukee’s Playoff Outlook
As the Inside the NBA crew debated the legitimacy of any eastern conference challengers rising behind the two lead dogs, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, Parker hesitantly brought up the New York Knicks but did not seem convinced that they would be a significant threat. O’Neal asked about Milwaukee, to which Parker replied that she did not think the Bucks were capable of matching up with either Boston or Cleveland.
Cleveland’s recent acquisition De’Andre Hunter has been on a tear as of late, and gives the Cavs a dimension that Milwaukee does not have. Hunter is a do-it-all wing talent who is capable of scoring 20+ points on any given night while also being a disruptive defender, whose switch-ability also presents unique challenges for offenses. No longer with the two-way talents of a prime Khris Middleton, the Bucks are now relying on players like Kuzma, Porter Jr., or Bobby Portis, who will not be back on the court until the end of the season due to a suspension, to fill the gaps on the wings.
O’Neal did not commit to declaring the Bucks as one of the main contenders in the east but did repeatedly ask both Parker and Carter about their chances. Neither analyst seemed enthused about the Bucks chances to take the eastern conference crown.
Milwaukee is back in action on Thursday night, where they return home to face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. The game will be on TNT.
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