The Milwaukee Bucks entered their road matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies as whopping 10.5-point favorites. Doc Rivers' veteran team played like it, too, approaching Thursday's battle with the decimated Grizzlies as a surefire victory heading into the All-Star break. Too bad the Grizzlies didn't cooperate.

Despite playing without a resting Jaren Jackson Jr. in addition to Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart and other regular key contributors, Memphis beat Milwaukee 113-110 at FedEx Forum for one of the most stunning outcome of the 2023-24 season. Doc Rivers, unsurprisingly, wasn't exactly thrilled with the Bucks' levels of effort and intensity.

“We had some guys here,” he said after the game, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “We had some guys in Cabo.”

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Definitely in Grind City on Thursday night? Antetokounmpo, who scored 35 points and doled out 12 assists while going an utterly dominant 15-of-17 from the field. Bobby Portis showed up for the Bucks, too, chipping in 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Damian Lillard, meanwhile, struggled en route to 24 points on 21 shots, playing an all-too-familiar brand of barely-there perimeter defense. Malik Beasley fared no better on either end, and Brook Lopez needed 14 shots to score his 14 points. Patrick Beverley missed all four of his attempts, finishing with one and a team-worst -16 plus-minus in 14 minutes off the bench.

The disappointing loss moves Milwaukee to 35-21 on the season, still good for third in the Eastern Conference. What's alarming is that the Bucks' midseason coaching change has yet to pay the dividends management envisioned. They're just 3-7 since Rivers took over on the sidelines for Adrian Griffin, sporting a -1.7 net rating.

The major reinforcements Milwaukee sought at the trade deadline aren't coming, either. Beverley was the team's lone trade acquisition last week. Danilo Gallinari is set to join the Bucks after being waived by the Detroit Pistons, but he's 35 years old and missed all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL. The veteran sharpshooter also hit just 31.3% of his triples with the Washington Wizards before getting traded.

It's not too late for Milwaukee to reassert itself as a top-tier title contender. Losses like Thursday's, though, are a stark reminder of just how far the Bucks have to go before earning that distinction as the season's stretch run dawns.