The Milwaukee Bucks dropped to 8-12 in 2025-26 following a 118-109 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Friday in the NBA Cup. This was the Bucks’ seventh defeat in a row, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who returned from an adductor strain against the Knicks, sent a stern message for his teammates in his postgame media session.
“When [Kevin Porter Jr.] goes down, and myself goes down, it’s human nature to think that you gotta carry a load,” Antetokounmpo said. “Maybe it’s scoring load, maybe you gotta make plays, maybe you think it’s your opportunity to get more shots, but that’s not how you win games. That’s not how you build culture.
“At the end of the day, you gotta come in, do your job,” Antetokounmpo stated. “Do what you’re paid to do. Defend, rebound the ball, do the little things… If you’re so concerned about scoring the ball and getting yourself going offensively, and that doesn’t work for you, now you feel like you cannot do nothing.
“You cannot worry about one shots or two shots that you miss, which took four seconds out of the game to dictate 47 minutes 56 seconds of the game,” Antetokounmpo continued. “So, we gotta get back to that mindset. We gotta get to the mindset that we gotta compete. We gotta get to the mindset that this is not one-man show, that we gotta do it together.
“We gotta move the ball, we gotta find open threes,” Antetokounmpo added. “We gotta run, we gotta create spacing. Our spacing sometimes is shaky… Overall, we gotta get our competitive spirit back to where it’s supposed to be. Nobody should have a personal agenda. Nobody should worry about what they want from themselves. Worry only about winning mentality, winning mindset.”
Antetokounmpo had gone down with the injury during the second game of this losing streak against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 17. The two-time MVP watched on from the sidelines as the team then proceeded to lose four in a row in his absence.
Antetokounmpo did his part on his return against the Knicks, putting up 30 points (10-14 FG), 15 rebounds, eight assists, and one steal in 28 minutes. Kyle Kuzma also chipped in with 20 points (8-9 FG) off the bench, but it wasn’t enough.
This latest loss was also the Bucks’ second straight in the cup, as the Miami Heat took them down 106-103 on Wednesday. Those losses have seen the cup holders get eliminated from the competition, and Antetokounmpo wasn’t too pleased about it.
“We had the opportunity to go to Vegas twice in a row,” Antetokounmpo said. “Not going to Vegas, not being able to gamble on 34 red one more time, I think it is going to be very, very tough for me. But at the end of the day, I just want to win. We’ve lost seven in a row. I don’t remember the last time I lost seven in a row.”
The last time the Bucks lost seven in a row was in March 2014, during Antetokounmpo’s rookie season. Things haven’t been this bad in a very long time. All this losing will once again bring up questions about Antetokounmpo’s future with the Bucks. If they’re not able to turn things around, he might decide to head out of town after this season.
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are in action next against the Brooklyn Nets at Fiserv Forum on Saturday at 8 PM ET.
