The Bucks' superstar talks about “undisciplined plays” after a terrible shooting night in defeat

The Milwaukee Bucks suffered their fourth loss in five games on Thursday night, this time falling to the Memphis Grizzlies by a score of 122-99.

Memphis' All-Star guard Ja Morant dominated against Milwaukee, scoring 26 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. On the other side of the point guard battle, the Bucks' Damian Lillard faltered.

Lillard shot just 1 of 12 and finished the game with 4 points, which was arguably the worst game of his tenure with the team. His 0-for-6 finish from the three-point line also helped the team shoot 21.4% from distance throughout the game, although shooting wasn't necessarily the biggest problem for Milwaukee.

After the contest ended, Lillard took the opportunity during the postgame media scrum to look beyond himself and address the group's apparent lack of intensity and hustle.

“Sometimes we shoot and we think it looks like Giannis (Antetokounmpo) or Brook (Lopez) might get it, so we wait and see,” Lillard told the media Thursday night. “There are guys running out and getting behind us.”

Lillard's main criticism centered on the transition defense and its tendency to jump the gun in anticipation of a rebound or turnover, which resulted in the opposing team having a numerical advantage if they were able to keep the ball.

“I think we had this problem the first five games, and every time it happened we got hurt by it… Just the undisciplined plays and decisions we make that give a team an advantage.”

One might conclude that Lillard's recap of the game is entirely accurate, as Milwaukee's 10 total turnovers is not a number that typically equates to a loss. Instead, their lack of intensity and game awareness in their transition defense created numerous opportunities for the Grizzlies' biggest offensive threats to break out and run.

The high-flying guard Morant took advantage of the Bucks' sluggish transition defense and converted numerous quick break opportunities into basket shots through clever passing and precise finishing at the rim.

Although the Bucks' pathetic defense performance could be cited as a key factor in the loss, Lillard's efficiency on the field still did not help the club make the game competitive.

For Milwaukee to have a chance of competing in the Eastern Conference, they will need to see both a collective improvement in decision-making and a jump in efficiency from their legendary point guard, who has knocked down just 41.3% of his shots in the first five games.

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