Bucks fall to Clippers, clinch first losing season since 2015-16

INGLEWOOD, CA – The Milwaukee Bucks fell 129-96 to the Los Angeles Clippers on March 23 at the Intuit Dome, which clinched a losing season for organization for the first time since 2015-16 when the team went 33-49 under head coach Jason Kidd. That was also the last time the Bucks missed the playoffs, which the Bucks are tracking to do this season as well.

The loss dropped the Bucks to 29-42.

Milwaukee had won the most regular season games in the NBA from 2018-25.

Box score: Clippers 129, Bucks 96

The team’s 42nd loss also gave head coach Doc Rivers his first losing campaign in a full season in nearly two decades and just the third losing season in his 27-year head coaching career. The last two Rivers-led teams to finish a full campaign under .500 were in 2005-06 (33-49) and 2006-07 (24-58) when the Boston Celtics were rebuilding.

“It is (disappointing), but you know, again, listen, we’ll talk about it at the end of the year,” Rivers said of the two marks. “I got whatever amount of games left. I’m trying to coach a team. A bunch of guys are injured. I can’t worry about my record or the team’s record. So, we’ll talk about that at the end of the year.”

Orlando was 1-10 when it fired Rivers early in the 2003-04 season.

Interestingly, Rivers was asked before the game about keeping the Clippers’ streak of consecutive winning seasons alive in 2017-18 when that team went 42-40 but missed the playoffs. That streak is at 14 straight seasons for Los Angeles as the Clippers improved to 36-36.

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is fouled by Bucks center Myles Turner on a drive in the first half of their game March 23 at the Intuit Dome.

The Bucks are 94-95 under Rivers, who went 17-19 in a partial season in 2023-24 after taking over for the fired Adrian Griffin when the team was 32-14.

Milwaukee has not posted a collective sub-.500 mark over multiple seasons since Kidd’s teams from 2015-18 went 139-152.

The Bucks have not technically been eliminated from the play-in picture in the Eastern Conference, but they are eight games behind the Charlotte Hornets in the win column with 11 games remaining.

“No matter what we’re still professionals, we’re still NBA players, no matter what we still have a certain product we need to put on the floor,” Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. said. “A certain, you know, sense of purpose of what we got going on. So we gotta go out there, continue to play, continue to stay fighting, continue to grow together, continue to learn, continue to get better by the possession.”

On the other side of the court, the Clippers have done the thing the Bucks could not do this season, which is rally back into the playoff picture despite a terrible start and suffering injuries. Los Angeles started the year 6-21 and have been 30-15 since Dec. 20.

Head coach Ty Lue’s squad became the first team in NBA history to even their record at .500 after being 15 or more games under .500 in the same season when they got to 33-32 on March 11.

The Bucks were competitive in the early minutes at Intuit Dome and led 17-16 late in the first quarter, but they eventually were worn down by Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers.

Los Angeles forced nine Milwaukee turnovers in the decisive second quarter and shot a blistering 65% to blow the game open at 71-47 at halftime.

“Really just let ’em get a little too many threes in transition in the second quarter,” Trent said. “We had ’em pretty low in the first quarter and then the second quarter they kind of just took off. They was swinging it, making the extra pass. We had a couple lapses on the defensive end that we can’t have. We gotta continue to get better, continue to keep working and no matter what, at the end of the day continue to fight no matter what the score is.”

Leonard scored 28 points in 24 minutes on 8 of 18 shooting. The Clippers star was 9-for-9 from the free throw line and had three steals and a blocked shot.

Trent scored 20 points and AJ Green added 15 off the bench for the Bucks. Pete Nance added 11 points with the second unit.

“I feel like we just did a good job of doing that, playing for each other and make or miss, finding the right shots and living with it,” Green said of the reserve combination.

Ryan Rollins led the starters with 13 points and seven assists and added four rebounds. Ousmane Dieng had seven assists. Bobby Portis Jr. added 11 points off the bench for Milwaukee.

Darius Garland scored 15 and had six assists for Los Angeles in just 18 minutes while former Bucks center Brook Lopez added 19 points for Los Angeles in his first game against his former team. He made 5 of 6 from behind the 3-point line, including knocking down a signature deep 3 (31 feet) in the second quarter that put the Clippers up 19 points and effectively put an exclamation point on a victory.

Bucks blown out big again

Following a highly disappointing loss to the similarly tanking Utah Jazz on March 19 – the Jazz played several two-way players and players on 10-day contracts – Rivers noted his team’s lack of a competitive spirit but said he wasn’t going to “overdo” one outcome. Rivers maintained that viewpoint heading into the contest vs. the undermanned Suns, saying his team has had good victories despite an injury-plagued campaign. And, the team responded with a nice clutch victory in Phoenix on March 21.

When asked how he can keep the team pulling in the right direction after two big blowout losses in three games, Rivers said:

“Did we win the last game? So, clearly, they showed up the next game, right? This is not like we got blown out 40 games in a row. So, the other night, we got blown out in Utah, right? We went to Phoenix, a team that desperately needed a win, we won that game. Tonight, another team that desperately needed to win, we got our butt whooped. So we got another game (in Portland).

“So, I’m not going to keep on this drudge of – I just gotta coach the team every night. I gotta try to push them each night. Each night, we try to get better. If you were at shootaround today, it was a spirited, it was a great shootaround. The guys were all locked in, but you guys don’t get to see that. Right? And then tonight, we started out the first quarter, we were playing great. It fell apart for us.

“And we don’t have a lot of tools to put it back. Just watch the game and see what’s on the floor. Like I can’t throw a wand and then all of a sudden, magical things happen, you know? But you just gotta keep encouraging our guys and that’s what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna keep encouraging them. We’re gonna keep practicing, keep working on stuff. That’s what you have to do when you’re in these situations. What you don’t do is sit around and talk about how bad things are. That’s what you don’t do. Not in life either. I’m not gonna do that.”

But the Bucks’ 33-point loss to the Clippers was the team’s 10th by at least 25 points, adding to its franchise record for blowout defeats.

The game was over by halftime, with Los Angeles taking a 24-point lead into the break. They stretched it to 46 in the third quarter.

In the 58-year history of the franchise, spanning 4,678 games, the Bucks have suffered five of its top 39 worst defeats this season:

T4: 45 points at Brooklyn, Dec. 14, 2025

T16: 39 points vs. Orlando, March 8, 2026

T36: 33 points vs. Minnesota, Jan. 13, 2026; 33 points at Los Angeles Clippers, March 23, 2026

T39: 32 points at Utah Jazz, March 19, 2026

The worst loss the franchise ever suffered was by 54 points to Chicago on April 30, 2015.

Statistically, the Bucks are one of the worst teams in the league in many categories, but without Giannis Antetokounmpo they particularly struggle to score. The loss to Los Angeles was the 17th time the Bucks scored 100 or fewer points and 13th time they didn’t reach triple digits.

Beginning with a defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks on Feb. 27, the Bucks have gone 3-11 and have not scored 100 points in seven of those losses. And, they’ve lost by at least 20 points in seven of those games.

“It’s just focus, discipline on doing the little things, on playing for each other,” AJ Green said of trying to still find positive consistency game to game. “But i think it’s all the little things. Like you gotta be so consistent. it’s hard when things aren’t going great. It’s easy when things are going good. So, it requires just even more discipline, even more togetherness, encouraging the next guy just to do it.”

5 numbers

13.9: Percent chance the Bucks had at winning a top four pick in the NBA draft lottery heading into the game, per the lottery tracking web site www.tankathon.com.

26.3: Percent chance the New Orleans Pelicans had at winning a top four pick in the NBA draft lottery heading into action March 21, per the lottery tracking web site www.tankathon.com. Should the Bucks end up with a lower pick in the draft than the Pelicans, New Orleans will swap for the better position as a remnant of the 2020 Jrue Holiday trade. Atlanta will be the ultimate beneficiary, however, as they acquired the rights to the pick from New Orleans due to a 2025 draft-day trade.

65.9: Percent chance the Bucks had at drawing the 10th pick in the draft lottery heading into the game, via www.tankathon.com. Heading into the contest with Los Angeles, Milwaukee owned the 10th-worst record in the league, percentage points ahead of Chicago (28-42).

750,000: Dollars in bonus money Kyle Kuzma is on pace to earn for his 58.1% true shooting percentage through 65 games.

Clippers keep Jericho Sims off the glass

Following the Bucks’ upset win in Phoenix on March 21, Rivers said forward Jericho Sims has pulled down “beautiful rebounds” and had been instrumental in the victory by creating multiple second-chance opportunities. In that game, Sims tied a career high with eight offensive boards.

It was just another career night doing the dirty work for Sims, who has set his single-game rebound career high twice this season, first on Dec. 3 vs. Detroit (14) and then again on Feb. 6 vs. Indiana (15).

He’s had eight games of at least 10 boards this season, which is also a career best.

Following the team’s shootaround on March 23, Sims told the Journal Sentinel he watches how teammate’s shoot – and miss – in practices and warmups to get a better anticipation of how the ball might come off the rim.

He said he didn’t believe he was doing anything differently, but in 16 games after the all-star break Sims pulled down 6.7 boards per game, including 2.8 on the offensive end.

“I usually tap out if somebody’s grabbing me – they’re usually grabbing me anyway,” he said with a slight laugh. “Our goal is to shoot a lot of threes. We make a lot, but then we’re gonna miss a lot, too, so that gives me opportunity at least. I think what helps me get rebounds is if other people crash as well.”

In roughly a career-high 17.8 minutes per game heading into Los Angeles, Sims pulled down a career-high 5.0 rebounds per game and nearly a career-high 1.8 (he had 1.9 per game in 2022-23 in New York). He’s also averaging a career best 4.1 points per game, which usually come in the form of lob dunks.

“Well, teams are scouting it,” he acknowledged. “You have to adjust to that. But even if I’m not open, I think the rolls (to the rim) will generate great offense for other people.”

Unfortunately for Sims and the Bucks, the Clippers did a good job of keeping the forward away from extra possessions. He pulled down just three boards, including one of the offensive variety, in 19 minutes before the starters were pulled.

Bucks forward Ousmane Dieng drives against Cavaliers guard Dennis Schroder during their game March 17 at Fiserv Forum.

More: Do Bucks still want to win at highest level? Fans, Giannis wait to find out

What is the Bucks record without Giannis?

12-23 after the game against the Clippers.

The Bucks are 17-19 when he plays, including a 2-2 mark when he has exited early due to injuries.

Is Giannis playing?

No.

The Bucks will hold out Giannis Antetokounmpo for a fourth straight game after he suffered a hyperextension and bone bruise in his left knee on March 15. Though Antetokounmpo has insisted he has been healthy enough to play, and put on a full pregame workout in Phoenix on March 21 that included several dunks, the Bucks continue to sit him.

More: What does Giannis Antetokounmpo want? He wants to retire with the Milwaukee Bucks

Is Kawhi Leonard playing?

Yes. The Clippers star began the day questionable to play vs. the Bucks with an ankle sprain. Leonard logged 36 minutes in an overtime victory over Dallas on March 21, scoring 34 points and handing out five assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, out (left knee hyperextension and bone bruise)

Kevin Porter Jr., out (right knee synovitis)

Gary Harris, out (left groin contusion)

Kyle Kuzma, out (right Achilles soreness)

Bucks probable starters

Forwards: Taurean Prince, Ousmane Dieng, Jericho Sims

What time is the Bucks game?

Tip off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT.

What channel is the Bucks game on?

The game will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Melanie Ricks on the call.

Bucks vs. Clippers odds

The Los Angeles Clippers are 12.5-point favorites over Milwaukee, and the over/under for the game is set at 222.5 points per BetMGM.

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