The Milwaukee Bucks fell 122-102 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, led by a 40-point performance from Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Going against the Thunder would have been a difficult task at full strength, but on top of the inherent difficulty of facing the best team in the NBA, the Bucks were down two key pieces and had their hands tied with another.

Both Myles Turner and Kevin Porter Jr. were missing from the Bucks lineup for the game and to make matters worse, Giannis Antetokounmpo is still working with a minutes restriction ever since he returned from the calf strain that kept him out for most of December. 

With the Bucks so shorthanded, head coach Doc Rivers stressed one crucial thing that the Bucks needed to avoid, and that was falling behind early. 

Milwaukee wasn't able to prevent that, though, after the Thunder jumped ahead with a 38 point first quarter, while the Bucks themselves scored just 18 in the first.

"When we have two guys like that out and Giannis on a minutes restriction, you can't get in a hole," Rivers said (via Bucks). "Coming into the game my only thought was we can't get down early. Because what happens when you get down early is now you have to get Giannis off the floor, which is just going to increase the lead."

Antetokounmpo was held to just 19 points on 8-11 shooting, but despite what is a below average scoring day for him, he still led the Bucks offensively. AJ Green and Bobby Portis followed Antetokounmpo with 15 points each, but that being the height of the Bucks' offensive potential obviously spelled disaster on the Wednesday. 

The Bucks continue their down spiral with the loss and have now dropped four of their last five games. Inconsistency has plagued Milwaukee this season as the idea of chaining together a meaningful amount of wins has escaped them since the season began. 

It's been evident that the Bucks are lost without Antetokounmpo on the court and with him playing on a minutes restriction, which the Milwaukee star himself finds uncomfortable and frustrating, it's been more important than ever for the Bucks to find an identity that doesn't exclusively run through Antetokounmpo. 

That hasn't happened and as the losses pile up, the confidence of the team goes straight down. Their lack of execution of the same tactics and plays that they've performed in practice has baffled Rivers and as the season races ever quicker toward the end, the Bucks are running out of time to turn their season around.