The Milwaukee Bucks won their first game after trading away Brandon Knight, defeating the Denver Nuggets, 89-81, on Feb. 20. It was the Bucks' ninth win in 10 games, and at 31-23 they looked like a team that could win a playoff series in the Eastern Conference.
The Bucks are sputtering their season away
The Milwaukee Bucks are struggling, and they might end up with the seventh or eighth seed in the East.
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Then everything fell apart. The Bucks have gone 5-14 since the win over the Nuggets, and are now in jeopardy of falling below the sixth seed in the East, which would pit them against either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Atlanta Hawks.
After losing to the Golden State Warriors, 108-95, on Saturday, the Bucks fell to 36-37. It's their first time under .500 since they were 15-16 on Dec. 27. With nine games still to play, the Bucks are up 2.5 games on the Miami Heat for the sixth-best record in the East -- and the Celtics are just one game back of the Heat. Staying in that sixth spot is important for the Bucks because the prospect of facing the Chicago Bulls or the Toronto Raptors is much more enticing than matching up against the Cavaliers or the Hawks.
The problem may run deeper for the Bucks than who they're facing in the playoffs, though. They picked up Michael Carter-Williams in the Knight trade, and the Bucks' offense has failed to get going since. In the 53 games before trading Knight, the Bucks had an offensive rating of 102.1 -- which is by no means great. In the 20 games since, that number has dropped to 96. They're shooting the ball at a much worse rate, too. Before trading Knight, the Bucks shot 46.6 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from deep. Since the trade, they're shooting just 43.2 percent from the field and 33 percent from behind the arc.
Carter-Williams hasn’t been a game-changer for the Bucks. In his 16 games with Milwaukee, he’s averaging 13.4 points and 5.4 assists per game, but he’s turning the ball over 3.3 times per game. Having Jason Kidd as a coach may eventually help Carter-Williams make the jump to the next level, but he hasn’t gotten there yet.
Though the offense may be scuffling, the Bucks are a dangerous basketball team because they play great defense. In fact, they have the second-best defense in the league. They give up just 99.6 points per 100 possessions (only the Golden State Warriors are better at 97.4). That number has remained pretty consistent since the trade -- 99.3 before the trade and 100.6 after.
Even with the recent struggles, Kidd is happy about the way his Bucks are playing. “We’re here to build something, not to do something in six months,” he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “There’s a bigger picture. We feel we have a core here that will be around for a long time and have success.”
Ersan Ilyasova is showing signs that he could be a threat in the playoffs, and he's averaging 17 points and 7.8 rebounds per game over the last 10 games. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a human-highlight reel who provides great defense and 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Both players are showing that they want to be a part of Kidd's bigger picture.
Still, the current reality is that the Bucks’ season depends on using the final nine games to find their offense. They must keep that sixth spot in the East because while their chances aren’t good against the Bulls or the Raptors, but they’re even worse against the Cavaliers.
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