Life without Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court is tough for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Just take a look at how they’ve done so far since the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player started missing games with a groin injury. Milwaukee has not won in the four games that Antetokounmpo missed because of the said lower-body issue.
In their most recent outing, the Bucks suffered a 106-103 loss at the hands of theMiami Heat in South Beach on Wednesday. Even then, a few breaks going its way could have Milwaukee upending the Heat.
Or, perhaps a better performance from backup point guard Cole Anthony.
The former North Carolina Tar Heels star guard bricked all of his seven shots from the field, including two from deep. He made both his free-throw tries to finish with two points, which were as many as his turnovers in the contest, as he finished with a minus-10.
Bucks’ Anthony has to get it together
Nov 15, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) grabs a rebound as Milwaukee Bucks guard Cole Anthony (50) reaches for the ball during the second quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Without Antetokounmpo, the rest of the healthy bodies on Milwaukee’s roster are expected to step up when called upon to hit the court. But that’s not happening consistently for Anthony, who got an honest assessment from head coach Doc Rivers after the Heat game.
“He’s struggling,” Rivers said bluntly of Anthony, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “He’s struggling right now and we have to do something to help him. He’s turning the ball over and taking some really rough shots for us. We just gotta keep coaching him. The kid can play. We gotta keep believing in him. He gets down on himself, probably too much, which leads to the next error. So, we gotta find the right happy medium to get him to be able to play through mistakes.”
In the last four games, Anthony has averaged just 6.8 points on a 38.7 field goal percentage, while missing 90 percent of his 3-point attempts. He’s also tied for most turnovers on the team during that stretch with 3.5 per contest. Ryan Rollins also has an average of 3.5 turnovers in the same span, but he’s playing more than double of Anthony’s minutes and handling the ball way more often.
Anthony has a chance to redeem himself this Friday, when the Bucks visit the Big Apple for a game against the New York Knicks.
Nov 26, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) defends Cole Anthony (50) during the first half of an NBA Cup game at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
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