The Bucks are still struggling, even with Giannis Antetokounmpo

After ten days without Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks could finally breathe: he returned, to New York, to offer the Bucks a chance to, perhaps, qualify and defend the NBA Cup title. But if he was dominant with 30 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists in 28 minutes, the Greek could not prevent his defeat.

“He was a little rusty. He lost a few balls. I used two timeouts, one in the first half and one in the second, just to let him breathe. Overall, I thought he was very good.”, Doc Rivers comments.

The problem was that we had to play for 20 minutes without him… They were even with the Greek, it was not the same story without him. Even brave and with Giannis this good, the Bucks made too many mistakes to hope to win this matchup.

“The most important thing is the 13 shots and 8 free throws that they made more than us. We shot better than them, but there were loose balls, offensive rebounds and fouls.”regrets the Bucks coach, because his troops committed 26 fouls and gave up 14 offensive rebounds. “You have to win the battle in this area and, especially with Giannis, if you do that, then you win the game. Because he is limited in terms of minutes, and we were losing our advantage when he was on the bench.”

First think about the effort, then the attack will follow

Return from Giannis Antetokounmpo therefore, it did not allow to reverse the (bad) trend of the Bucks, who thus conceded their seventh defeat in a row. The season is still long, the gap with the peak is not huge, but the observation as the month of December draws to a close is there: Milwaukee is only ahead of the weak Hornets, Nets, Pacers and Wizards.

“During this series, our morale is high and that’s positive”Lance Kyle Kuzma. “But we have to pay more attention to details. This lack of attention, at certain moments during the matches, explains our defeats. We have to be more concentrated at certain moments of the matches.”

That’s what the 2021 Finals MVP is looking for, not to be soft on his team. “No one should have personal ambitions”he warns. “We just have to think about winning. If we win, everything will fall into place. I can use the excuse of being tired, yes. That it’s human nature, with my absence and the absence of Kevin Porter Jr., to tell ourselves that we have to do more, that it’s an opportunity to make more shots. But that’s not how you build a culture.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo is insisting that the Bucks rediscover the defensive virtues sometimes seen against the Knicks, but not over time, in the face of the efforts of Josh Hart and company, before looking to shine on offense.

“You have to do your job and do what you’re paid to do, defend, do the little things. When you do that, other things add up. If we’re only thinking about scoring, getting into a rhythm offensively and it’s not working, then we feel like we’re not doing anything.”, continues le All-Star. “We can’t worry about two missed shots, four seconds affecting 47 minutes and 56 other seconds of the game. We have to find this state of mind, fight, not be a one-man show. We have to do it together.”

How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.