The Milwaukee Bucks’ season ended on Thursday

Damian Lillard may have returned, but it wasn’t enough as the Milwaukee Bucks ended their season with a 120-98 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Behind huge contributions from OB Toppin and TJ McConnell, Indiana held off Milwaukee for the majority of the game to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Bucks did start off strong, going up 13-6 in the opening minutes of the game. However, it would stop there. By the latter part of the first quarter, the Pacers would eventually take the lead and push forward the rest of the way.

Milwaukee would attempt to cut the deficit multiple times, but their opponents would not falter, holding on to the lead until the final buzzer. In the closing moments of the game, the Pacers blossomed their advantage to as much as 24 points.

So what went wrong for the Bucks?

Lack of bench production

As mentioned earlier, OB Toppin and TJ McConnell were game-changers for Indiana. Both players came off the bench, but they each eclipsed the 20-point mark (Toppin had 21 while McConnell had 20). In total, the Pacers bench churned out 50 points.

Now compare that to Milwaukee, whose bench produced just 10 points. It’s even worse when one finds out that four of those points occurred in garbage time. Malik Beasley, and Pat Connaughton, the team’s two main weapons in the second unit (for this series), combined for just five points. Beasley was just 1-of-5 in nearly 23 minutes of play while Connaughton finished 1-0f-4 from the field in 16 and a half minutes.

Khris Middleton had a quiet night

Even if Lillard suited up for tonight’s game, many expected Khris Middleton to continue where he left off last game. Instead, the forward tallied just 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field.

Thursday was Middleton’s lowest output of the series. Throughout the first five games, the three-time All-Star averaged 26.8 points per game, highlighted by a 42-point night during the Bucks’ Game 3 overtime loss.

The Bucks struggled from downtown and the charity stripe

As a team, Milwaukee shot just 7-of-27 (25.9%) from deep, with four of those coming from Lillard alone. Middleton finished with just one three pointer while Patrick Beverley missed all his attempts (0-of-3) from downtown. Beasley had no makes as well, only attempting two three-pointers.

In comparison, the Pacers were able to sink 13 threes.

Free-throw shooting also hurt Milwaukee in this game. The Bucks went just 21-of-32 (65.6%) from the charity stripe on Thursday. Bobby Portis (3-of-7, 42.9%) and Brook Lopez (6-of-9, 66.7%) may have finished with 20 points apiece, but they missed free-throws that could have helped along the way.

Overall, it wasn’t the most ideal season

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The Bucks end their run after a much-hyped offseason. Last year, Milwaukee acquired Damian Lillard in a blockbuster trade that sent shockwaves throughout the NBA. The team may have had a strong start to their campaign, but a mid-season coaching change seemed to have struck a nerve in their momentum. In the Bucks’ last 10 regular-season games, they only won just three.

In addition, Milwaukee played the entire first-round series without their superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak has been dealing with a calf injury since early April. Furthermore, Lillard (Achilles) was also sidelined during Games 4 and 5 against Indiana.

All things considered, there were just too many obstacles for the Bucks this year. They’ll have the summer to rest and regroup for a fresh start come October.