The Milwaukee Bucks were defeated 122-109 by the New York Knicks on Sunday at Fiserv Forum, dropping them for the fourth time in as many games and for the sixth time overall.

To end this run, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers stated, “You need a win, you need something to go your way.” “I’ve experienced it. But I think this team is too good to go through this. regardless of who has come and gone. There are guys out for every team. I need to work that out.

The Bucks didn’t lose four straight games until December 21–28 of the previous season. Prior to that, the squad had lost five straight games during the 2020–21 championship season, from February 10–18.

“It feels bad,” Giannis Antetokounmpo remarked. Not a good feeling at all. The team’s atmosphere doesn’t feel quite right. For example, you might play more tense and timidly outside if you start losing a game or games.

But ultimately, you just have to, you know, stick with it. Put in twice as much. Put in more effort. Shut up. Ultimately, you hope that by doing this, you will become well. It’s excellent. As an example, things don’t always have to go well, go smoothly, win all of the games, win six in a row, win five in a row, and so on.

“You have to be here sometimes. So, going ahead in the playoffs and in your life, you kind of know what to expect and you do the same thing when you confront hardship like this. As an employee, you revert to your most familiar behavior, which is putting in more hours. You’re likely going to be in this loop for a while if you’re not employed.

The Bucks (47-31) nonetheless secured a postseason place in spite of the defeat, and they are now one game ahead of the Knicks (46-32) and Orlando Magic (46-32) for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

All-star forward Khris Middleton was also hurt during the game for the Bucks; with the team leading by ten points in the second quarter, he took a heavy blow to the mouth.

The Knicks had lost four of their previous five games and were in a similar slump going into the contest. However, the Bucks’ offense went cold in the second half and they were unable to stop star point guard Jalen Brunson on the defensive end.

For the Knicks, Brunson was unstoppable once more, scoring 43 points on 32 shots. This season, Brunson’s 40-point performance against the Bucks was his second. In addition, he provided eight assists.

Brandon Brunson is “probably just getting downhill a lot,” according to Bucks forward Bobby Portis. He is undoubtedly skilled in the midrange. Good at utilizing the magnifying glass. The paint flip shot that guards have sort of mastered over the years is effective for him. killed us, dude. killed us all year long, so it wasn’t really novel. If we see him down the line, we should probably try to remove the ball out of his hands so someone else can beat us.”

For New York, Isaiah Hartenstein scored 16 and Donte DiVincenzo contributed 26.

Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with his 28 points and 15 rebounds. Portis scored 28 after coming off the bench. Of Damian Lillard’s twenty-three points, fourteen came from free throws. He shot 1 of 7 from beyond the three-point line and 4 of 11 from the field. 13 more points were contributed by Brook Lopez.

In the Fiserv Forum regular season finale on Wednesday, Milwaukee welcomes Orlando after hosting Boston on Tuesday.

“Man, just keep at it,” Portis said. “Dude, take the punches. Not everything will go as to plan. My career hasn’t gone exactly as planned, but you just have to persevere, dude. Finding a method and achieving one victory is the only way to continue. And it feels fantastic when that victory (occurs). It feels like the end of the world, which is sort of insane, but it’s not as horrible as everyone thinks when we look at the standings—we’re in second place. Just need to maintain the confidence growing and make a few minor adjustments here and there. The most important thing is to maintain your confidence and to keep playing for each other in the face of adversity.

Bucks secure a playoff berth.

Milwaukee’s victory over Orlando and their earlier-day loss to Miami combined to secure at least the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

It was officially the ninth season in a row that the team qualified for the postseason.

With Boston having the longest ongoing postseason streak at ten, this is the second-longest in the league. The 12-year run from 1979 to 1991 is the longest streak in team history, with this one coming in second.

With four games remaining, Milwaukee has the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference; yet, prior to the game, Rivers stated he had not been keeping an eye on the standings.

He remarked, “I know we have to win games.” “When we win games, everything falls into place. We are not trying not to, I promise. So that’s my perspective on it always. Like, let’s just win games and let things finish wherever they may. The East is likely to have difficulty. Clearly. It is going to be difficult in the first round. Phase two. The East, that is, both conferences. We are not attempting to determine pairings, as it is an impractical endeavor. Thus, our current goal is simply to win. Above all, though, our goals are to win, stay healthy, and have excellent rhythm. We will be overjoyed if we can complete all three.

The Bucks have gone through a lot lately, but all of the other playoff teams—aside from Boston—have also been going through difficult times. Milwaukee has maintained its hold on the second seed thus far.

Despite having dropped four out of five, New York’s victory (46–32) kept them within hearing distance of Milwaukee. In Sunday’s game, Orlando defeated Chicago to tie the Knicks at 46–32.

Cleveland lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 46-33 on Sunday after blowing a 21-point halftime lead. Now, the Cavs have dropped five of seven games and three of the last four.

On Wednesday, the Bucks and Magic will play their regular season finale at Fiserv Forum. On April 14, the two clubs play a matinee in Florida to wrap up the regular season.

In general, the Bucks had dropped two of their previous five games featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Khris Middleton as their Big Three. Lillard had to miss time for stitches in his lower lip during the second of those games, a loss in New Orleans on March 28, and he also injured his right groin during the fourth quarter. Then, Middleton was out with an injury against the Knicks.

After Antetokounmpo was ruled out due to left hamstring tightness on April 5, Rivers stated, “I would say if we were all healthy and dropping games and playing, the urgency talk would be a lot higher because that would mean we’re not playing well with all our guys.” In this instance, I believe you really desire the second seed, but you also have the option of having Giannis play (against the Raptors)? Indeed. However, you must make a decision. We can prioritize health over seeding, I suppose. That’s how we would approach it.”

If the Bucks win the second seed, they won’t find out who they’ll face in the first round until the play-in tournament is over.

“I believe that if we follow our responsibilities, we should be together,” Lillard remarked. But regardless of the opponent you face. It will be difficult to get out. Every squad that we may be paired with and encounter along the way is going to be difficult. Therefore, all that remains is for us to spend as much time as possible at home and to be the best versions of ourselves while doing so. More than anything, I believe it to be the main problem.