Damian Lillard gets brutally honest on 'big hole' that's hurting Bucks
02/03/2025 01:06 PM
Sunday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies fit now-familiar patterns for the Milwaukee Bucks. They got bludgeoned in the paint and limped to the finish line in the fourth quarter. They’re big reasons for the current 1-4 slide, with one major cause being the absence of big man Bobby Portis.
“That’s a big, big hole in our team without Bobby being here,” point guard Damian Lillard said after the game. “Not having Bobby on both ends of the floor, you know, I think that’s been obviously something that we struggled with.”
The 6-foot-10 Portis has missed the team’s past five games for unspecified personal reasons. The big man usually comes off the bench and is averaging 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds. Frequently mentioned as a possible trade chip, Portis has in his absence given a glimpse of how the team would look without him.
It’s not pretty, given the Bucks’ current lack of depth down low. The Grizzlies used their size and brawn to bully the Bucks, beating them 71-46 in rebounds. They scored 66 points in the paint to the Bucks’ 36.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 11 rebounds, close to his season average of 12.2 per game. But he got no help. Starting center Brook Lopez pulled down just two boards in 31:50 of game time and was a team-worst -20.
“We’ve been designed to be a big team and have two bigs on the floor,” Lillard said. Without Portis, “It affects our rotations defensively, because we like to have one big protect another big. And a lot of the times lately, you know, it’s one big out there after the start of the game. So it just kind of changes things.”
It hasn’t helped that two of the games without Portis were against Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs and the Grizzlies, who feature rookie Zach Edey at 7-foot-4, the tallest tree in a forest of them.
Relatedly, the team’s current swoon has featured lackluster fourth quarters that hint at fatigue. They’ve averaged just 21.8 points in the final frame in the past five games. That’s down significantly from their season average of 25.6 points, already the worst in the league. Last season, the Bucks led the NBA in fourth-quarter points at 29.1, per teamrankings.com.
In Sunday’s loss to the Grizzlies, the Bucks pulled even at 112-112 with a three-point make by Antetokounmpo with 6:28 to go. Down the stretch, they fumbled the ball, missed open shots, and surrendered easy buckets on the way to a 20-7 closing run by the Grizzlies to win comfortably, 132-119.
“I always say, you know, it’s about who can weather those storms, you know, over the course of 82 games,” Lillard said. “You never know when the breakthrough is gonna happen, or what type of breakthrough is gonna be, but you’ll never find out if you don’t stay in it. And I think that’s where we are.”
Next up: on the road Monday night at Oklahoma City for the second game of a back-to-back.
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