Sixers cannot overcome rough start in 117-104 loss at Milwaukee Bucks

MILWAUKEE — When Joe Ingles’ running heave clanked off the back of the rim just before the first-quarter buzzer, the crowd inside Fiserv Forum let out a collective groan.

Why wouldn’t the home fans think that desperation shot would swish through the net? Nearly every other Bucks shot had gone splash in the initial 12 minutes against the 76ers, which Milwaukee rode to a comfortable 117-104 victory Sunday night in an anticipated matchup of two Eastern Conference contenders.

“They just kicked our butt,” coach Doc Rivers said of the Bucks, who sit atop the conference at 56-22 entering regular season’s final week. “They were more aggressive. They were prepared. They beat us all the way around. They beat us in playing, coaching, energy, everything …

“The last game they played, they got blown out [against Boston]. This is a team that’s won a title. They have a lot of pride. They showed that tonight. We didn’t respond very well.”

The loss dropped the Sixers (51-27) to three games behind the Boston Celtics (54-24), who they host Tuesday, in the East standings with four games to play. The fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers (49-30) also closed the gap between them and the Sixers to 2 1/2 games following their victory over the Indiana Pacers Sunday night.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (33 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, three blocks) and Joel Embiid (28 points, nine rebounds, five assists) both filled the box score in the latest battle between Most Valuable Player contenders. After the game, though, Embiid lamented what he described as a lack of aggressiveness since he returned from missing Monday’s loss in Denver with calf tightness, acknowledging he is “making sure [I] don’t overdo it. ... There’s some stuff you can’t mess around with.”

“[I need to] just get back to being my dominant self,” Embiid said.

Though the Bucks came out looking like a team motivated to atone for Thursday’s blowout loss to the Celtics, the Sixers briefly made a second-half push.

They outscored the Milwaukee 20-8 to begin the third quarter, including an Embiid jumper that cut his team’s deficit to 77-73 with about four minutes to play in the period. But Bobby Portis (18 points on 8-of-11 shooting) answered with a three-pointer, before Ingles later buried another deep shot that extended Milwaukee’s lead back to 85-75 at the 2:52 mark of the frame and Antetokounmpo made the score 96-82 with a thunderous slam just before the buzzer. Milwaukee then led by as many as 22 in the final frame.

“That stretch to end the third just killed us,” Rivers said.

Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 29 points (including 6-of-7 from three-point distance) and four rebounds. Bucks All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half and added four steals against his former team, fueling a night when Milwaukee scored 13 fast-break points and 21 points off 11 Sixers turnovers, and clearly bothered Sixers star guard James Harden.

» READ MORE: Taking stock of the playoff race — and the Sixers’ position in it — entering the regular season’s stretch run

Following Tuesday’s marquee showdown against Boston, the Sixers will play their regular-season home finale Thursday against the Miami Heat. Then, they finish out their slate at the Atlanta Hawks Friday night and at the Brooklyn Nets (their likely first-round playoff opponent) on April 9.

A routine 18-foot jumper by Brook Lopez ignited a torrid offensive start for the Bucks.

They rapidly built a 31-15 first half lead by making their first eight shots and then 12 of their first 13 attempts — and the only misfire (a Khris Middleton layup) was collected and laid in by Lopez. Dribble penetration set up many of those buckets, Rivers said, from finishes at the rim to wide-open three-pointers. Milwaukee made 16 of their 23 shots (including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc) in the period to lead by as many as 18 points.

“It’d be nice to just guard somebody,” Rivers said. “ ... They got everything they wanted. There was no resistance early on. And then you get a team like that confident, it’s hard to turn them off.”

Harden, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second quarter, got the Sixers within 10 when his floater made the score 43-33. But Portis responded with a jumper and later hit a three-pointer that pushed the Bucks’ lead back to 16 points. That advantage ballooned to 20, at 61-41, when Antetokounmpo found an open Lopez under the basket for a one-handed dunk about five minutes before the break.

As Rivers continues to tinker with his possible playoff rotation, nine Sixers got meaningful minutes Sunday. Shake Milton was not part of that group, and Danuel House Jr. (10 points) did not play until the game was out of hand in the fourth quarter.

Backup center Paul Reed was the most effective reserve, finishing with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and 10 rebounds (five offensive) while spending stretches guarding Antetokounmpo. De’Anthony Melton, Georges Niang, and Jalen McDaniels, meanwhile, were a combined 1-of-11 from the floor.

Those struggles came two nights after the Sixers’ bench was instrumental in building a big first-half lead in Friday’s win over the Toronto Raptors.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ recent play worthy of celebration, but the next two games could indicate their success in the postseason