The Bucks’ downturn continued last night, as they lost 102-100 at home to the very shorthanded Denver Nuggets, going winless against them this season. The game was certainly a weird one, with Denver getting up 23 points in the third quarter, and then all but relinquishing that lead in the fourth after a rabid Milwaukee comeback. The question the Bucks should ask themselves, though, is how does a team missing Jokic, Braun, Watson, Valanciunas, and Johnson (plus, Aaron Gordon was shelved at the half) get up 23 to begin with? To make matters worse, Giannis suffered his second calf injury of the season; he believes he’ll be out another 4-6 weeks. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In Six Minutes, below.
Player Grades
Giannis Antetokounmpo
32 minutes, 22 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 turnovers, 4/8 FG, 14/16 FT, +6
For all the criticism that’s been thrown Giannis’ way about his potential wavering commitment to the Bucks, I want this game as Exhibit A in my evidence to the contrary. He played 32 minutes trying to help his struggling team win a game they needed. It stinks to see this injury happen and that he may be out for over a month.
Myles Turner
29 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 blocks, 7/12 FG, 1/4 3PT, -3
Man, did the Bucks ever miss Myles’ presence on the court. Granted, it was against a team without its starting and backup centers, but his gravity as a shooter helped open things up for the offense. Just needs to hit a couple more of those threes.
Ryan Rollins
35 minutes, 21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 8/20 FG, 4/10 3P, +0
Despite another rough game offensively, Rollins still brought it defensively and came up clutch when the Bucks needed him. He hit two big-time threes to keep their comeback chances alive, but it ended up being for naught.
Kyle Kuzma
35 minutes, 11 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4/11 FG, 1/4 3P, 2/6 FT, +5
I know it’s easy to crap on Kuzma for that final shot, but with limited time and no timeouts, he got the best shot possible. You’d rather he not be the one taking it, but that’s what happens to whoever rebounds the ball after a late missed free throw.
Amir Coffey
21 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 4 fouls, 2/7 FG, 1/5 3P -8
The prodigal son returned, as Coffey came into the game before the fourth quarter for the first time since Novemeber. His first half was pretty good, hitting a layup and a three, but his second half is what drags the grade down. He took some ill-advised threes and could barely stay in front of anyone on defense.
Bobby Portis
26 minutes, 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4/12 FG, 3/7 3P, +7
It was a rough shooting night for basically everyone, so don’t take to heart the 4/12 shooting. Portis took advantage of a smaller Nuggets lineup and was able to clean the glass, while still posting double-digit scoring.
Cole Anthony
16 minutes, 9 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 4/8 FG, 1/3 3P, -12
Welcome back to the Cole Anthony experience, everyone. He was solid at the end of the first quarter to boost a struggling Bucks offense, scoring the final seven points. However, the rest of the game was the same we’ve seen out of Anthony since his impressive first week: can’t stay in front of anyone on defense, and throws the ball into harm’s way more often than not.
Pete Nance
12 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, +2
The Pete Nance hype train slowed down a bit last night, with him being limited to just one shot attempt. He seemed to be bothered by the Nuggets’ speed, but held his own well enough out there for a two-way guy.
Gary Harris
28 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1/4 3P, 1/2 FT, -9
Harris was one of the most active players on defense, but just couldn’t get his shot to fall. Hoping for better luck with the basketball gods on the three-point shot moving forward.
Doc Rivers
I’m not going to totally bury Doc here, but losing to the Nuggets’ second and third stringers is not a good look. The Bucks did generate open shots and ran the offense well in spots. Yet, there’s no real excuse to use when you are nearly at full strength to lose this game. That early challenge also didn’t help when there were a few plays later on where he could have used one.
Limited Minutes: Andre Jackson Jr.
DNP-CD: Jericho Sims, Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Inactive: Kevin Porter Jr, Gary Trent Jr, AJ Green, Taurean Prince, Alex Antetokounmpo
Bonus Bucks Bits
The biggest news of the night was that Giannis suffered another calf injury. He initially went to the locker room in the first quarter, but returned to play the rest of the game until the last 34.2 seconds. He revealed to the media that after an MRI today, he expects they will tell him he’ll be out another 4-6 weeks.
“I was feeling it [for] a majority of the game, but I did not want to stop playing. But, at the end, I could not move, so I had to stop.”
“So, the next steps will be to go to an MRI tomorrow. After the MRI, they will probably tell me I popped something in my calf, in my soleus or something. I’ll probably be out 4-6 weeks. This is from my experience being around in the NBA. After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back.”
The games without Giannis haven’t been good. The Bucks are 3-12 when Giannis doesn’t play this season and 4-13 in games he doesn’t finish due to injury. Myles Turner said the biggest thing they need to improve on when Giannis isn’t out there is their chemistry and working with every player’s talent.
Giannis answered in the affirmative when asked if he would have rested if the Bucks had had a better record:
“I don’t like to quit. I couldn’t explode, jog, get on my toes, so I was jogging on my heels. I didn’t have the same explosiveness, but I still felt like I could help. But then at the end, when it popped, I had to get out.”
Doc Rivers was asked about the timeline of Giannis’ injury as the game unfolded. Here are his full comments:
“I thought he was favoring it for most of the second half. I asked our team (medical staff) five different times. I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally. Giannis was defiant about staying in. On that one play, seeing him try to run down the floor, to me, I’d had enough. I didn’t ask, I just took him out.
Here is the play that Doc is talking about, where you can see Giannis almost fall over as he struggles to get back down the floor.
The Bucks’ Western Conference kick continues, as they finish their three-game homestand on Sunday. They’ll host Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks for an earlier tip-off of 6:00 p.m. Central, and you can catch it all on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.