The Milwaukee Bucks suffered a disappointing 126-123 loss at home to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night, despite the continued absences of Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons. Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 38 points as the Bucks struggled to slow down the visitors.
This was especially true in the third quarter, which saw Brooklyn put up a whopping 43 points after managing just 53 points in the first half. This has been a problem all season for the defending champions. Milwaukee's defensive rating of 118.4 in the third quarter is the worst in the NBA by several points, according to NBA.com, and they're currently 25th in net rating in the third quarter.
It has been confounding to watch this normally stout defense just totally melt down in third quarters all season. Khris Middleton and Mike Budenholzer both addressed the third-quarter woes after Saturday's loss:
The third quarter has been a big problem for Milwaukee all season long, and it continued to be tonight as the Nets outscored the Bucks 43-34 in the period. Here's what Bud had to say about what went wrong: pic.twitter.com/j6rkFknGN2
— Gabe Stoltz (@Stoltzy3) February 27, 2022
Khris Middleton, on the Bucks' continuing 3rd quarter struggles:
"I think if I had the answer, it wouldn't have happened. I mean, 43 points is way too much for any quarter, but yeah, it's been happening way too many times in the third. Just gotta find a way to correct it."
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 27, 2022
There's likely some unluckiness at play here, but given the sample size this deep into the season, it's a troubling trend. The Bucks must improve their effort and focus coming out of halftime instead of easing up. They have consistently been dominant defensively in first halves, only to fall apart on that end in the third quarter.
Milwaukee is still a good team, but the 36-25 record is nowhere close to what was expected and brings some questions about the chances of repeating. While it's true that the Bucks have generally been great when their three best players play, there are notable concerns. Perhaps getting Brook Lopez back would help, but they can't rely on him coming back from back surgery and making a big impact. Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Mike Budenholzer and Co. must figure out these third-quarter problems soon.
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