Giannis Antetokounmpo rips Bucks after getting shellacked by Warriors in humiliating blowout loss

For the better part of the season, defense has been a major issue for the Bucks. Their problems on that side of the ball reared their ugly head again on Wednesday night, but at the same time, this wasn’t the be-all and end-all of their 35-point drubbing at the hands of the Warriors.

Bucks coach Doc Rivers pointed out that their offense was the bigger problem. Giannis Antetokounmpo echoed his coach’s thoughts in a painfully honest postgame tirade:

“We cannot allow our offense to dictate our defense,” Antetokounmpo said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “At the end of the day, we gotta be better. They scored 125 points. At the half, they had 78.

“In the first six minutes of the third quarter, I think we were aggressive, we were being physical, we were making them shoot tough shots, and in the first couple of minutes, they had like five points. We got back into the game, and after that, the moment that the ball is not moving, everybody’s not touching it, everybody’s not getting energy, now our defense is not as good.“

As Giannis noted, the Bucks tried to make a game of it in the third quarter, where they outscored Golden State, 23-15. And then, as Antetokounmpo pointed out as well, Milwaukee suddenly lost focus.

The Warriors held the Bucks to just nine points in the fourth quarter, while scoring another 32 on their end of the floor to complete the blowout.

Simply put, the Bucks have to be much better than this moving forward.