Defense just part of painful night
Giannis sprains right ankle in loss
The Milwaukee Bucks fell on Wednesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, 127-120, to the Los Angeles Clippers, a team on a fourgame losing streak that also was battling against an oppressive schedule having played Tuesday in Minnesota with Wednesday’s game representing their fifth in seven days.
For the Bucks, the contest represented their latest exercise in defensive futility with the Clippers riding DeAndre Jordan (25 points, 22 rebounds) to dominate inside early and 9 of 15 three-point shooting in the second half to balloon their margin as high as 19 points after halftime.
With just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles had already established itself as the seventh straight team to top 110 points against Milwaukee.
“Better not be,” Bucks coach Joe Prunty said when asked if the team’s defensive confidence is shaken. “We need to come out focused and aggressive from the jump. That’s about as important as anything is the mental approach to it. We need to come out and set a tone and we need to sustain it for 48 minutes.”
Unfortunately for the
Bucks, as poorly as the game went, their latest defeat wasn’t their most troubling loss of the night.
That’s because all-star Giannis Antetokounmpo was unable to complete the game after retreating to the locker room with a sprained right ankle with four minutes left in the second quarter.
“I don’t have an official update at this time,” Prunty said after the game.
Antetokounmpo sustained the injury with 5 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter on a play where most eyes were on Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe depositing a layup. While Bledsoe was in midair, Antetokounmpo ran in from behind and got his right leg tangled up with Clippers guard Austin Rivers, rolling his right ankle and immediately going to the ground.
Antetokounmpo stayed in the game until the Clippers called timeout with four minutes on the clock.
As the team returned from halftime, the news of Antetokounmpo’s inability to return began to spread, though his absence didn’t immediately have a negative effect on the Bucks.
Milwaukee, which surrendered a 13-0 run to end the first quarter and trailed by as many as 16 in the first half, chipped away at a 10-point deficit early in the third quarter with a quick 8-0 run.
It took less than three minutes for the Clippers to return their lead to double digits.
The margin hit 19 points with just under 8 1⁄2minutes left in the game, but the Bucks found a way to make things interesting. Milwaukee cut the deficit to five with 1 minute, 46 seconds left on a three-pointer by Bledsoe then decided to intentionally send Jordan to the freethrow line and take their chances with the career 44.6% free-throw shooter.
Jordan made one of two and Bucks center Thon Maker got a great look on a corner three-pointer that was off the mark. Parker immediately fouled Jordan again and the Clippers center made both shots to put the Bucks in an eightpoint hole with 1 1/2 minutes left. But the Bucks still didn’t go away. Khris Middleton, who finished with a team-high 23 points, deposited a layup then stole the ensuing inbound pass, which led to a dunk for Maker.
That’s when Rivers forcibly put the Bucks away. With one minute on the clock, Rivers buried a three-pointer then turned and had some words for the Milwaukee bench. That triple put Rivers at 22 points on the night, including 5 of 9 from three-point range.
The Bucks got 20 points from Parker, who played a season-high 30 minutes and Bledsoe added 19 points and eight assists in the loss.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
In his only trip to Milwaukee this season, Clippers coach Doc Rivers was asked for his thoughts about Marquette, where he starred as a player from 1980’83.
“I love where they played the last couple games in the NIT,” he said of the Al McGuire Center. “That was really cool. I’ve always wished, I guess at the MECCA we did it, but an on-campus arena. A small one: 12,000-14,000.
“I’ve always kind of hoped for that.”