Bucks Searching For Answers

INDIANAPOLIS – The Milwaukee Bucks fully expected to be celebrating late Thursday night.

Instead, they were a dejected bunch, thoroughly frustrated after losing their third straight game, a 104-89 thrashing to the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Bucks’ uninspiring effort dropped their record to 40-39 and, while they are still in reasonably good shape to make the playoffs, they’re a team out of sync.

The doors to the Bucks’ locker room didn’t open for about a half hour after the game. And when they finally did open, the room resembled a morgue – deathly quiet. The Bucks looked bewildered, a marked contrast from their ultra-confident, almost cocky ways in March when they seemed almost unbeatable.

So, what’s caused the sudden turnaround?

Rookie center Thon Maker believes his team has been resting on its laurels.

“We got a little bit comfortable,’’ Maker said. “We got to get back to that desperate mode we had. That’s what got us here in March. We were desperate.’’

Veteran guard Matthew Dellavedova concurred, but gave another reason for the Bucks’ lackluster play in the last three games, which included setbacks to Chicago and Oklahoma City.

“We need to play in that desperate mode,’’ Dellavedova said. “And I think we need to get back to playing better on the defensive end. That’s where it starts for us.

“We just have to play beter deense and then it’ll help our offense and let get out (on the break), which we do well. If we get back to playing defense like we did, we’ll be fine.’’

The Bucks better do that real soon. They play the 76ers on Saturday night in Philadelphia and then host Charlotte on Monday before finishing the regular season on Wednesday against the Celtics in Boston.

Stay tuned.

DOING THEIR HOMEWORK: The NBA playoff matchups have yet to be determined, but that hasn’t deterred teams from doing some serious preparatory work.

At Thursday night’s game between the Bucks and Pacers, advanced scouts from several of the top teams in the Eastern Conference were in attendance taking copious notes on the Bucks and Pacers, teams they could face in postseason.

Among the team that assigned scouts to the game were Boston, Toronto and Washington. Washington, which is currently in the fourth spot, has had a scout following the Bucks for more than a week. There is a decent chance the Wizards and Bucks could hook up in a first-round series.

MISSING BROGDON: The Bucks have definitely felt the absence of rookie point guard Malcolm Brogdon, who has missed the last four games with what Bucks officials are saying is back soreness.

Brogdon did some on-court drills in Milwaukee on Thursday but when he’ll return to action remains uncertain. With Brogdon out, the Bucks have turned to recently-signed Gary Payton II, who struggled throughout his 15 minutes on the floor against the Pacers.

BATTLING A SLUMP: One of the major reasons the Bucks have been struggling of late is because of the struggles of Khris Middleton.

With Jabari Parker out for the season with a torn left ACL, it’s absolutely imperative for Middleton to be a productive scorer. But that hasn’t happened lately.

The veteran swingman went 4 for 10 from the field against the Pacers and now has gone 13 of 36 in the last three games – just 36 percent. In that three-game span, Middleton averaged a mere 10.6 points per game.