Turner's frustration boils over as the Bucks squander a huge lead and lose a tight one.
The Milwaukee Bucks fell short in another tight contest on Friday night, and center Myles Turner made his frustration clear after a 102-100 home loss to the Denver Nuggets.
"We lost. That's all I really care about," Turner said postgame. "Obviously it was a better performance collectively than last game, but we still lost. So it was a game we should have won. We've got too many games this year that come down to the wire like this."
A Pattern of Heartbreak
Turner's comments echo a growing concern around the Bucks' season, as the team now sits at 18-26 and in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Milwaukee has dropped five of its last six games and finds itself outside of the Play-In Tournament picture with the trade deadline just two weeks away on February 5.
The center finished with 17 points, five blocks and shot well from the floor, but it wasn't enough as the Bucks struggled to hold a 23-point lead in the second half.
Turner is averaging 12.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game this season in his first year with Milwaukee after signing a four-year, $107 million contract this past summer.
Another Giannis Injury Clouds the Picture
The loss became even more painful when star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo left the game in the final seconds after re-aggravating his right calf injury.
The two-time MVP had his calf wrapped in the first half but played through discomfort, finishing with 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists before exiting for good with 34 seconds remaining.
Antetokounmpo said after the game that he expects to miss four to six weeks, a devastating blow for a team already fighting to stay in playoff contention.
The star forward has already missed eight games this season with the same injury, and Milwaukee is just 3-11 without him on the floor.
"At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing," Antetokounmpo said. He is averaging 28.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game this season when healthy.
Trade Deadline Looms Large
With the February 5 trade deadline quickly approaching, Milwaukee faces a critical decision about its future direction.
The Bucks have insisted they have no intention of trading Antetokounmpo and are instead looking to add pieces around him.
However, the latest injury complicates those plans considerably, and some around the league have suggested the team should consider a rebuild.
For Turner and the rest of the roster, the focus remains on finding ways to win close games and keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Bucks host the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, though they will likely be without their franchise cornerstone once again as he undergoes an MRI to confirm the severity of his latest setback.