The Milwaukee Bucks are struggling. No way around that. 11-17, 11th place in the East, they are 2-4 since Giannis Antetokounmpo went out with a calf strain and they are lucky not to be 0-6.
The win over Detroit, in the game Giannis strained his calf, took a miraculous effort. Eight days later, they fell down 21-8 to Boston and looked in for another long night before righting the ship and pulling away late for a 15-point victory.
The losses have been ugly. A 127-82 thrashing at the hands of the tanking Nets was one of the worst losses in franchise history. Milwaukee went the final 7:05 without scoring a point.
Yet, in terms of process and preparation, head coach Doc Rivers likes where his team stands.
Rivers says team is trending in right direction – the results just haven’t been there
The Bucks have had a lot of extra off days after being eliminated in the group stage of the NBA Cup. While the group finalists moved on in the tournament, other teams enjoyed a lighter schedule than usual. Over the past two weeks, the Bucks have fit in six practices. It hasn’t translated to victory, but Rivers is encouraged by what he sees.
“Yeah, it was great,” he said of all the extra time to rest up and work on things in practice. “You know, like I told our guys, we’re closer to being a good team again than we’re further away. I just like what’s going on. Obviously the wins haven’t showed, but I like where we’re at.”
Nov 20, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers reacts in the 3rd quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Bit once again by a slow start, the Bucks dropped their last game, Thursday against Toronto, by a score of 111-105. They battled back from an early 15-4 hole to take a brief 2-point lead out of halftime, but the Raptors surged later in the period and kept the Bucks at arm’s length after that.
Bobby Portis led the team with 24 points, highlighting the team’s need for a dominant scorer. Kevin Porter Jr. had an off night, going 7-18 from the field with seven turnovers. Myles Turner added 21 and Ryan Rollins provided 17 off the bench, a lineup experiment to try and get him going again now that Porter is back and controlling the offense, but was strangely limited to 28 minutes.
Splitting up Porter and Rollins in the starting five is not going to work if it does not maximize contributions from both of them.
Feb 21, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers (M) talks to Milwaukee Bucks guard Ryan Rollins (13) and Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. (3) during a stoppage in play against the Washington Wizards in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
The Bucks travel to Minnesota Sunday to play the 18-10 Timberwolves coming off an impressive win over the Thunder (25-3).
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