Losing the turnover battle helped doom the Milwaukee Bucks once again Friday night in Memphis. 22 Bucks giveaways created 20 Grizzlies points. At the same time, they generated only 14 turnovers from Memphis, which turned into 15 points. After leading by ten after quarter one, the Bucks (12-19) crumbled to a 125-104 defeat.
Throwing away possessions was far from the only reason they lost. Excessive fouling, another thorn in Milwaukee’s side, came back to bite them. Benefiting from 25 Bucks fouls, the Grizzlies paraded to the free throw line 32 times and made 26.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, went 18-24. Another eight-point advantage on the opponent’s side of the ledger.
The Bucks made only one more three-point field goal yet were also demolished in paint points (54 to 28) and on fast breaks (26 to 13). All those turnovers helped create transition chances for Memphis.
Doc Rivers spoke on the turnover issue, perhaps the most “fixable” (and thus irritating) of all this team’s flaws, after the loss.
Strong start devolved with careless ball handling
Although not the only culprit, Kevin Porter Jr. led the way with seven turnovers. Ball security has been a recurring issue for Porter; he has turned it over six-plus times in four of five games.
“You can’t win,” Rivers said postgame. “We talk about it every night. Scoot had enough seven-one again. I thought the first quarter, we couldn’t have played better basketball. The first nine minutes was beautiful, ball movement. I thought right when the ball stopped is when the turnovers went up.”
Dec 18, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers reacts in the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Even as the Bucks have shown progress, turnovers remain a problem. In Indiana on Tuesday, they limited themselves to 15. They gave it away 18 times versus Minnesota (the Timberwolves had 10). They committed 17 turnovers against the Raptors, but only lost the turnover margin by one.
After a strong start, they relapsed in a big way against the Grizzlies. “We started trying to make our plays, our spacing got bad. … This was really disappointing to me. I thought we came in with the right approach. We lost it as the game went on and then I though the ball stuck in our guards’ hands too much. We didn’t move it.”
Rivers may been in a for something less of a headache if Giannis Antetokounmpo can return Saturday in Chicago, providing another ball handler in the frontcourt and defense-altering gravity.
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