Part of an NBA referee’s job is to be impartial on the court. But one referee couldn’t help but notice that something has been off with the Milwaukee Bucks lately.
The Bucks have lost four games in a row – their longest losing streak of the season. The first three defeats came against teams in the NBA’s bottom eight in terms of record.
After Friday's loss to the Toronto Raptors, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers had to answer several questions about the team’s recent slide. Rivers admitted that one particular referee that night told him that there was a “heaviness” that was palpable with the team on the floor.
“You can feel it,” said Rivers of the team’s frustration during the streak. “You can literally feel it during the game. … Even one of the officials said it, ‘Man, you can feel the heaviness of your team right now.'”
That heaviness seemed to carry over Sunday to the Bucks’ subsequent game against the New York Knicks. Milwaukee led the contest 61-50 at halftime. But New York outscored them by 24 points in the second half to seal a 122-109 win.
The Bucks’ formerly tight grip on the No. 2 seed in the East has loosened considerably over the last two weeks. Following Sunday’s slate of games, Milwaukee sat just a game ahead of the Knicks and Orlando Magic for the conference’s second-best record.
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