A loss to the woeful Washington Wizards has NBA pundits questioning the Milwaukee Bucks‘ effort — and their playoff future.
Milwaukee misplaced to a Wizards crew that had gained solely 14 video games all season, however it seemed just like the Bucks underestimated them. They merely did not play onerous, like after they left rookie Tristan Vukcevic vast open for a simple three-pointer.
The dearth of effort actually price them on the finish of the sport, when Anthony Gill whiffed on a layup that may have put Washington up by 4, however 4 Bucks did not run again. So Gill collected his personal miss, made the layup on his second try to the upset was clinched.
The Bucks solely must win three of their closing seven video games to clinch the No. 2 seed within the East. However even that’s no assure of security, as their potential No. 7 seed opponents are harmful. Their potential opponents are:
- the Indiana Pacers, who’re 4-1 in opposition to the Bucks this season
- the Miami Warmth, who beat Milwaukee within the first spherical final 12 months, and in 2020
- the Philadelphia 76ers, who simply bought MVP Joel Embiid again from damage.
On TNT’s postgame present Candace Parker questioned if the loss meant that Milwaukee was “going to a first-round exit.”
Hiring Doc Rivers was supposed to assist the Bucks get the crew prepared for the playoffs. However he is made some inexplicable choices, like when he referred to as a timeout with 5 seconds left within the first half and Giannis Antetokounmpo heading to the road.
Rivers ended up icing his star, who missed each free throws. Not solely that, however his crew allowed a buzzer-beating layup off the second miss, which calls into query what precisely the Bucks have been speaking about throughout the timeout in the event that they have been that unprepared.
When the Bucks fired head coach Adrian Griffin, they have been 30-13. Underneath Rivers, they’ve gone 15-14. That is not the document of a title contender. It is extra just like the document of a first-round loser.
