Doc Rivers Bluntly Rips Bucks’ Effort After Blowout Loss to Nets

“No one wanted to play hard.”

Doc Rivers didn’t hold back after the Bucks lost by 50 points to the Nets. / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Three days after the Bucks earned an impressive win over the Celtics, disappointment struck again as the Nets blew Milwaukee out 127–82. Against a 7–18 Nets team that ranks 13th in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks lost by nearly 50 points.

The Bucks are still without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo as he deals with a calf strain that has kept him out since Dec. 3. Still, the Nets offered a good opportunity for the Bucks to string together a second straight win without Antetokounmpo. Not only did they walk away with a loss, but they got embarrassed by a team they should have beaten.

“That was disappointing, probably one of the more disappointing games I’ve ever been involved in with the way we performed and competed,” coach Doc Rivers said after the game. “And we wanted to blame everybody but ourselves. We’re blaming the refs. We’re looking at each other. No one wanted to play hard. We got a lot of soul-searching to do.”

Doc Rivers after losing by 45 to the Nets:

"Probably one of the more disappointing games I've ever been involved in...we wanted to blame everybody but ourselves. We're blaming the refs, we're looking at each other. No one wanted to play hard. We got a lot of soul searching to… pic.twitter.com/Nm8NPZViu5

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 15, 2025

“We gave up 30 points in turnovers,” Rivers added, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “[It was] not until the beginning of the second half that we actually looked like a basketball team where we started passing the ball. But by then, the basketball guys decided you can’t make any open shots now. You don’t deserve it.

Not only did the Bucks turn the ball over 20 times, but they allowed nine different Nets players to record double-digit points as Brooklyn scored 127, their second-highest total of the season.

“I heard one of the guys said, ‘Man, we’re down that much to this team?’” Rivers said, via Nehm. “It’s like, ‘This team? What about our team? We’re 11-16. What are you talking about?’”

“We need all of us—including me, it starts with me—but I gotta get these guys right because clearly tonight was not the right night.”

The Bucks are now 11-16 and rank 10th in the Eastern Conference. While there is plenty of time for Milwaukee to turn their season around and move up the standings—especially when Antetokounmpo returns—Rivers’s comments indicate there are issues beyond their play on the court. If the Bucks want to do more than just make the play-in tournament or playoffs, they cannot afford low-effort and poorly executed games.

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