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Chris Herring, ESPN Senior Writer
NEW YORK — The Milwaukee Bucks finally had reason to feel good about themselves — or at least feel a measure of relief — on Thursday when they beat the lowly Utah Jazz to snap a six-game losing skid, their longest since 2015.
But the Bucks followed that showing by getting dominated Friday night by the New York Knicks 116-94 at Madison Square Garden.
And Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo made it known after the loss that he wasn’t pleased at all with the team’s effort.
Antetokounmpo said the performance was more disheartening because it came on the heels of three straight showings in which the Bucks — who dropped to 2-7 and are tied for 13th place in the Eastern Conference — played hard and gave themselves a chance to win. And instead of building on that, he said the team lacked heart against the Knicks.
“Did we compete the previous game? Yes. Did we compete the two [games before that]? Yes. Did we compete today? No. … If you don’t compete your ass off, you’re not going to win the game,” he said. “[You have to] at least give yourself a chance.
“We came to New York after playing great last night. Then we come here and lose by 30. Are you OK with not competing? I’m not OK with that s—. We’ve got Boston in two days. We don’t compete, we’re going to lose by 30.”
Both Antetokounmpo and Bucks coach Doc Rivers pointed to the Knicks’ seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone as a metric that spoke to New York’s higher level of effort and physicality. Rivers recalled a first-half play where three of his players knelt down to recover a loose ball, only to watch a Knick dive on the floor and come up with it for an extra possession.
Effort aside, it doesn’t help that Milwaukee simply looks old and slow much of the time. The Bucks, who at one time had one of the best defenses in the league, had no answer whatsoever for Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists), who torched them from deep and repeatedly drove past Brook Lopez for easy baskets.
The point-of-attack defense, which hasn’t been the same since the team acquired star guard Damian Lillard and dealt stopper Jrue Holiday ahead of the 2023-24 season, is among the NBA’s most vulnerable. Entering Friday, the Bucks ranked 28th of 30 teams in defending pick-and-roll ball handlers (only Atlanta and Detroit have struggled more on a per-possession basis).
The Bucks’ offense hasn’t been particularly good, either, ranking just 21st in the league, even with Antetokounmpo and Lillard. Rivers said that, as a coach, he has to find ways to get forward Bobby Portis going. Lopez, too, has struggled to find himself offensively.
But Antetokounmpo said that all those things — from coaching to shooting luck — are moot until the team plays harder more consistently.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to compete,” said Antetokounmpo, who finished with 24 points and 12 boards.. “Teams are not just going to give us games. They’re not going to feel bad for us.
“We’ve got to compete every single possession. Every loose ball, we’ve got to get a body on the floor and put it on the line. But we didn’t compete at all.”
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