Why Doc Rivers thinks Milwaukee ‘deserved to lose’ to the Wizards
The Washington Wizards stunned Milwaukee Bucks 114-113 when CJ McCollum hit the game-winning shot in the final seconds in front of a stunned crowd at the Fiserv Forum. Coach Doc Rivers believes that his team deserved to lose, according to postgame comments for The Athletic.
“Listen, I don’t care about the end of the game. We deserved to lose the game. We didn’t play hard enough. We didn’t play well enough together,” Rivers remarked about the game.
The Bucks struggled to separate themselves from the Wizards all night. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the team with 33 points on 12 of 21 shooting with 15 rebounds. However, it was not enough in the end. Antetokounmpo hit two free throws to give Milwaukee a 113-110 lead with 33 seconds left. But the Bucks allowed McCollum to make a cutting layup three seconds later.
On the Bucks’ possession, Kevin Porter Jr. missed a layup. Then Antetokounmpo grabbed the rebound and went up for the rebound. But Alex Sarr blocked his attempt to give the Wizards the ball back. Then McCollum grabbed a rebound and dribbled all the way back to hit a jumper with one second left. After a timeout, Antetokounmpo had a chance to give Milwaukee the win, but he couldn’t hit a 13-foot jumper.
Rivers believed the odds were ultimately not in their favor. But he also believed they could have done more to prevent that ending.
“We didn’t pass the ball to each other, we didn’t guard it. And when you play like that, you lose the game,” Rivers added.
Rivers emphasized that he was disappointed with how the Bucks played and that he took some responsibility. He added that the morning shooting was not that good and he didn’t feel like they were ready. Despite Rivers is moving up the coaching ranksthere are more games like this, as the Bucks fell to one of the worst teams in the NBA. The Bucks’ next chance to bounce back will be Friday against the Charlotte Hornets.
2026-01-01 14:40:00
