What's going on in Milwaukee?

The Milwaukee Bucks finished third in the Eastern Conference last season, one game out of second place behind the New York Knicks. This season, through five games the Bucks are 1-4, losers of four straight games.

The season couldn't have started off better for Milwaukee, dominating the Philadelphia 76ers 124-109, with guard Damian Lillard leading all scorers with 30 points on 9-for-19 shooting. However, since their opening game win, Milwaukee hasn't looked great. They lost by 10 to the Chicago Bulls and 13 to the Brooklyn Nets. They looked good but ultimately lost by double-digits to the Boston Celtics, and Thursday night they looked sloppy and incredulously lost by 23 to the Memphis Grizzlies, who finished 27-55 last season.

It's just not that the Bucks were pointing/looking at each other confused more times than I can count in that 2Q. They were noticeably slow to every 50/50 ball, every closeout, every rotation, every transition set. They'll eventually play better, but man it's a WOOF right now.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 1, 2024

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points on 17-for-22 shooting, but Milwaukee didn't really get anything else, especially from their stars. Lillard had an abysmal night, scoring just four points on 1-for-12 shooting.

The Bucks fired head coach Adrian Griffin in January despite Milwaukee's 30-13 record. The team then hired Doc Rivers, and they've gone 20-26, including the playoffs, with Doc at the helm. To be fair to Milwaukee, injuries have played a huge part in their struggles since Doc took over. Antetokounmpo missed the playoffs last season with a left calf strain, missing the series was a huge reason why the Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games.

Additionally, forward Khris Middleton hasn't played yet this season, recovering from double ankle surgery. Milwaukee should be able to turn it around and make a run to the playoffs; it's only been five games, after all. Their schedule doesn't get any easier, though. Their next two games are against the 5-0 Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Knicks and Celtics are also upcoming on the schedule.

The good news for the Bucks is the NBA season is long and there's a lot of time to stack wins together and improve on their 49-33 record from a season ago.

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