The Bucks battled frustration and fatigue in a tough second half in Denver. On the second night of a back-to-back, Milwaukee faded away late, with MVP candidates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic each tallying 31 points. Kane and Frank break down the matchup, discuss the officiating and apparent frustration of the Bucks through the night. Also, Locked on Bucks take a look back at the win over Utah and how the weekend has positioned the team in the race for the No. 1 seed.
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30 Comments
What is the mood after the weekend back-to-back?
Happy to get the split. The more important games are the Philly and Celtics games. As much as Giannis was dominating early it always felt like we were off from 3 and Jrue, Middleton were a bit off plus, although I don’t think the refs caused the loss it certainly swung the momentum hard and you felt the frustration boil.
Bucks can’t beat top healthy teams. Celtics have beaten every “contender”
We seem to lose almost all the big statement games during the season often in spectacularly bad fashion . Often the refs have something to do with it . We always seem to be on national TV to get humiliated . The refs gave them a fricking ten point lead in the third and we’re calling the Bucks for tack stuff while the Nuggets were allowed to do those same things !
Officiating was Terrible??? What…you are the only two guys having that statement…what…it's just a loss man up
I'm so upset with that third quarter officiating 😡
Made such a difference in momentum
Only way for them to win is to shoot out of this world at this point smh
If the 3p don’t fall in this team has trouble and no other plan. That’s called bad coaching
The second half especially was a struggle to watch. Complete lack of energy, focus, effort and a really bad performance by everyone. It was as if in the second half they gave up.
I could go on about Bud but barring throwing the whole team out and playing the reserves or going berserk on all players ala Euroleague coaches, ithink there was precious little he could do.
I know back to back games can be difficult, but the bucks showed a lack of mental discipline.
Pat was missing open 3s, Ingles was non existent. The whole team except Giannis didn't show up for the game.
25% from 3 does not win you any game especially against NBA's overprotected son.
No wonder Giannis wasn't looking forward to more road games.
Jesus Christ, a high altitude back to back, best team in the West, the Bucks got tired, why wouldn’t they? Chill out non believers and bandwagon jumpers.
Realy frustrating game.
a)Khris is clearly not in a playoff form yet and it's obvious, i hope he is ready when we realy need him
b)Terrible officiating. Felt like every 50-50 call went Denver's way. And some calls were outright hillarious: Jokic elbows Brook to the face and somehow it's a foul on Brook. Awarding 3 free throw to MPJ for a shot he NEVER attempted. And throw in a million techs on the Bucks for complaining as a cherry on top.
b)Jrue was terrible. Very poor shooting but most importantly very bad choices. Drove to the basket several times, drew a crowd and then instead of finding the open teamates decided to attempt a layup against 3 defenders in the paint. (on the plays i remember Giannis was behind him wide open for a 3 or for a trailing drive)
c)Bud beyond terrible. How can the refs give 3 free throws for shot that wasnt attempted and Bud not challenge the call?? Yes the game was over already but sometimes i feel like Bud should be waaaaaaay more aggresive. The team gets bad officiating far too consistently and if Bud doesnt show some spine and get some techs, or even get thrown out, this will carry over to the playoffs im afraid.
d) Giannis is for some reason still disrespected by the refs. Giannis has to literaly bleed to have a foul called and all Jokic has to do is flop and flail his arms a little and he gets the call. It's ridiculous.
e) The refs are hardly the only ones to blame for the 2nd half collapse. I feel i have watched this exact thing happen in most of our loses the season and it's becoming ultra worrying how can the team have a complete breakdown in so many games. Its another thing to have a bad day from the start and the opponent be on fire all game long. Its far more concerning that we loose games that look like easy wins in the halftime and then the team just never returns to the court from the lockeroom.
It is an absolute shame that both Bucks-Nuggets game where on the second night of a back to back for both teams
Giannis did everything right his teammates need to step up
Denver played harder than they ever did per their OWN announcers – they didn’t swing the ball fast enough – they defended Giannis very well give them credit they made adjustments – and guys missed shots. It happens – Also Brook basically didn’t play in the 2nd half
I don’t like losing at all however this game is not who Denver is consistently and same with Milwaukee- they may lose a game 3 in Atlanta or Toronto or to whoever in the 1st round by 30 yall – it’s the NBA teams play desperate and this is the result
How can Frank find Jokic fantastic? Aesthetically the way he runs moving back and forth his head and the way he pushed Brook at the low post with 3 pump fakes next to the rim is ugly
Here's the deal. Back to back high altitude, poor reffing no big deal.
Sucks bc it impacts GA but he's already been tossed out of the mvp race for no reason.
Not sure why they didn't continue to run offenses through GA rather than taking all those 3s. It was terrible.
You lost me at "West not so strong as the East"…
So nobody gonna address the officiating . Clearly oneside
Not much to take from this game except the Bucks offense still has some issues. Bucks' record with Nuggets haven't been good in a long time: Bucks are 34-69 against the Nuggets. It is what it is.
0 concerns at all still best team in the league, still best player, this Lost Was GOOD! A reality check for US, the only thing I want is 1st in the east and completely health , Fuck MVP
I am not sure why Giannis did not shoot more trees.
I don't get the lie that the east is better than the west.
There are 5 legit western teams DEN, LA, LA, GS, PHX that can win the chip, and i am not counting Luka's team or the 2nd and 3rd seed. The east has 3 teams PHI, MIL, BOS.
Though MIL is the favorite, there is no doubt the 3 eastern contenders have an easier path than any of those western teams are going to have.
Because the west is still better.
Tough loss but you cant win them all.
March 30th…circled
Frank is so hard on them. Ha!
The way I see it, we played better than the nuggets in the first half. They started to figure us out, but we could've gone back and forth. Then 3 things happened
1. Giannis began grabbing the wrist. I don't recall if he was fouled, or what?
2. Momentum had a massive shift early in the 3rd which was a direct result of weird reffing
3. Bud made a mistake by limiting Brook. Brook should've been out with Joe getting some easy offense going.
Bud made a lot of mistakes. In his postgame interview he even acknowledged this. Brook should've been out there despite the fouls. They should've been running more plays for Giannis as well bc he was on fire last night in the first half.
Bud just sabotaged the game AND the last shiver of MVP hope GA had 😢
Frank talking about this should have been game for Giannis to make MVP statement. What are you talking about? First of all Jokic shouldn't even been in the MVP race. When Giannis won his second MVP, they said Giannis wouldn't win another MVP until Giannis wins a championship. So why aren't they keeping the same energy for Jokic? Also, Middleton missed 40 games. Even now that he's back I didn't he's even averaging 15 points. What are you talking about, Frank?
If we are being honest, Giannis is the MVP. So I guess the refs playing for the nuggets proved to you that Jokic is more valuable than Giannis? Dude shouldn't even be in the race. It should be Giannis, Joel Embiid, Tatum. So I guess if the Bucks win vs the 76ers they are going to vote Giannis the MVP?
The Bucks cruised through the 2nd half of Friday's game. The flight from SLC to Denver is only about an hour – it's not like they flew across the country.
They were tired and worn out last night