After the Milwaukee Bucks were blown out by the Thunder on Wednesday, 122-102 in a game that never felt close, Giannis Antetokounmpo called out teammates for “selfish” play and a general lack of cohesion. A frustrating season has grown worse with recent ugly losses, and Giannis appears increasingly exasperated in his postgame media sessions. Taurean Prince, unlikely to play again this season following neck surgery, believes connectivity isn’t a problem off the hardwood. In the eyes of the 10-year veteran, the problem is translating that collaborative spirit in-game.
Prince echoes Giannis in emphasis on adopting “right mentality”
“Off the court, continuity is definitely there,” Prince told reporters Friday. “We just have to translate it on the court. That’s guys playing with the right mentality – playing to win and doing whatever we gotta do to win the game and making it about the right things.”
His comments echo much of what Giannis has said. Too often, Antetokounmpo sees younger players hunting their own shots instead of making the right read each time down the floor. It’s an issue he only observes get worse when he takes a seat on the bench.
The Bucks are running out of time to take his words to heart. Their home loss to OKC dropped them to 18-25 overall, a game and a half out of the play-in and six games behind Cleveland in the playoff field proper. Milwaukee fell behind 38-18 to the defending champs and never really got back up off the mat.
Prince, though, doesn’t see the defeat as throwing the team out of whack as they prepare to host Denver on Friday.
“We have a bunch of high-character guys. I don’t expect emotions to be super high or everywhere after a loss as such. The focus, if anything, needs to rise … I think the focus of the guys this morning is very high, so planning to take that into the game tonight.”
Hopefully that intention manifests in practice. Both teams come in with cluttered injury report. The Nuggets (30-15) remain without three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and have multiple starters listed as questionable.
For the Bucks, Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green are game time decisions with an illness. Myles Turner, who sat out Wednesday’s drubbing, is probable with an ankle injury. As of early evening the Bucks are 7.5-point favorites at home. Tip off is scheduled for 9:30 PM ET.
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