Playing without star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo , Milwaukee blew a 21-point lead in a 115-110 loss at Atlanta on Friday night.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers did not mince words about his team’s performance after the game, which dropped Milwaukee to 2-6 since Jan. 27.
“It would have been a joke to basketball if we won the game tonight we didn’t deserve it,” Rivers said. “It’s on me, I got to get them to see that you can’t be casual in an NBA game and think you’re going to win the game.”
Kyle Kuzma made his Milwaukee debut after he was acquired from Washington in exchange for Khris Middleton and AJ Johnson. Kuzma scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench.
Philadelphia trailed by as many as 34 points during Friday night’s 125-112 road loss to a Detroit team that played without All-Star guard Cade Cunningham.
It was just the second game the 76ers have lost this season with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George all on the floor. Philadelphia has dropped four of its last five after winning four straight.
Similar to Rivers, 76ers head coach Nick Nurse expressed his disappointment in terms of the effort of his group.
“We didn’t develop any speed, juice or energy at the start,” Nurse said. “They were not one step, they were three steps faster than us at everything. Lots of transition buckets, just about every rebound, just out-worked us. It’s inexcusable.”
Maxey leads Philadelphia by averaging 27.8 points, 6.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Embiid, in just 15 games, is averaging 24.6 points and 8.1 rebounds.
Antetokounmpo paces the Bucks with 31.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per night. Damian Lillard’s 7.5 assists per game are the most in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo missed Friday with a calf injury while Liam Robbins , Pat Connaughton and Kevin Porter Jr. also sat out. It’s unclear yet whether any or all of them will play Sunday.
On Philadelphia’s side, there’s no indication any of their big three will have to miss Sunday’s game given that it’s not part of a back-to-back. Guerschon Yabusele’s status for Sunday is unknown after he missed Friday’s game with a knee injury.
Milwaukee has dominated this series recently, winning the last six meetings, including the first two this season. The Bucks notched a 124-109 at Philadelphia in the season opener on Oct. 23 and followed up with a 123-109 home victory on Jan. 19. Neither Embiid nor George played in either contest.
Maxey did most of the scoring for the 76ers in both meetings with Milwaukee. He tallied 25 points in the opener and netted a game-high 37 in the last matchup. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 34 points and 15 boards in the latter contest.
Milwaukee can clinch the four-game season series with a win on Sunday. The Bucks have either won or split the series against Philadelphia every year since the 2011-12 season.
On the stat sheet, the teams are similar in certain ways. They have identical road records at 10-15 and nearly identical defensive numbers, allowing an average of just under 113 a game.
However, Milwaukee is 16-8 at home and averages five more points per game on the offensive side compared to Philadelphia .
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