Bucks Zone

Doc Rivers takes the blame for Milwaukee's 35-point loss to Sacramento

Rivers questions the Bucks’ focus against the Kings.
Matthew Dugandzic|
© Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Milwaukee Bucks found themselves at the receiving end of a thorough beatdown on Tuesday night, and coach Doc Rivers has taken responsibility for the debacle.

“It's my fault. I didn’t get them prepared the way I should mentally,” Rivers said of the Bucks’ 94-129 loss to the Sacramento Kings.

The Bucks ended the four-game California trip 1-3. The West Coast swing featured two 35-point losses as Milwaukee started the sojourn with a 90-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Out of focus

Milwaukee was coming off a 124-117 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, but against the Kings, Rivers said they did not do anything to give them a chance to win the match.

“We deserved it tonight,” said Rivers, who dropped to 10-10 as Bucks coach.

The one-sided loss was something that Rivers saw coming as he observed that the Bucks’ focus was somewhere else. Doc said he and the coaching staff could have done better preparing the squad mentally prepared.

“At shootaround, guys were talking about planes leaving. As a staff, we talked about it after shootaround that if our focus is not better than this morning, it’s going to be a long day. And it was a long day. So that’s on us,” River said.

Sacramento finally got one over Milwaukee

Complacency may have come into play as the Bucks have beaten the Kings in their last 15 meetings. Milwaukee also defeated Sacramento in their first meeting this season when Damian Lillard sank a buzzer-beating triple in a 143-142 overtime win last January 14th.

Sacramento had not won over Milwaukee since February 1st, 2016. The 15-game losing streak was the longest active streak for a team against another team. The Kings finally ended the drought against the Bucks, and it was not even close.

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.