Bucks smoked in fourth quarter by Jazz, drop to 1-3 under Rivers
At this point, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas might be too generous to the Milwaukee Bucks in giving them the third-best odds to capture the NBA Championship in June.
Since the start of the new year, the Bucks have given up over 130 points on five separate occasions, and they now rank 24th in the league in points allowed (119.9) ahead of only one projected playoff team, the Pacers, as well as lottery-bound teams such as the Hornets, Spurs, Pistons, Hawks and Wizards.
The Bucks' defensive woes continued Sunday night as the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led group got outscored 40-13 in the fourth quarter by the Utah Jazz en route to a 123-108 defeat. The loss also dropped the Bucks to 1-3 since Doc Rivers took over as head coach despite holding multiple double-digit leads.
The feeling of a Rivers-coached team blowing double-digit leads is one that fanbases of the Clippers and Sixers are all too familiar with. As has been well documented, Rivers' teams have lost their last five Game 7s in the NBA Playoffs, with three of those teams also blowing 3-1 series advantages. Furthermore, Rivers-coached teams are 16-33 when they have three wins in a seven-game series.
Regardless of whether the Bucks fix their woes ahead of the playoffs, one thing is for certain: their front office plans to continue swinging for the fences. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Bucks will remain "super aggressive" ahead of the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline despite having very few assets to work with.
At 33-17, the Bucks still sit second in the Eastern Conference standings, but the Cavaliers are just a half a game behind.
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