The Milwaukee Bucks were riding a high going into Sunday night's game against the Brooklyn Nets, but they've since been sent crashing back down after a crushing  127-82 loss to a Nets team that was just 7-17 going into the game. 

Milwaukee's season was finally starting to look up after a tough win against the Boston Celtics in their previous game, which could have indicated a possible resurgence for the Bucks after a harrowing stretch of losses in the last month. However, all of that momentum seemed to die as soon as they stepped onto the court Sunday.

They were immediately outscored by 12 points in the first quarter, and the gap didn't get any smaller as the game went on. With the sting of defeat still fresh in his mind after the game, Kevin Porter Jr. reflected on the possible arrogance that led the Bucks into dismissing their opponents going into the game before they were harshly reminded that any team can be a challenge. 

"It's a disappointment. Especially the way we we lost. You're going to lose in this league, but we never want to lose like that," Porter Jr. Said (via Bucks). Like Kuz [Kyle Kuzma said], we came out a little lax. Still, probably, too confident from the last game. [We] underestimated how this Brooklyn team prepared, and we didn't prepare the right way."

Preparation was Porter Jr.'s biggest takeaway from the defeat. Even if a team like the Nets are scraping the bottom of the NBA, it's still a team competing in the best basketball league in the world and any athlete at the highest level, even athletes on a relatively bad team, have world-class talent that can make their opponents hurt.

With that in mind, every game needs to be taken as seriously as possible, or else results like Sunday's can haunt teams like the Bucks if they don't come in with the necessary readiness. 

"You just got to be professional. Like I said, preparation is not negotiable in this league. You've got to be ready to come out and play in this league," Porter Jr. said. "It's the NBA, at the end of the day. A lot of teams got great players. Tonight, they were making a lot of shots, but they were wide open shots at the end of the day. We've got to do better as a whole."

The game was a painful lesson that the Bucks surely won't forget anytime soon. Porter Jr. stressed the importance of coming into every game, win or lose, prepared to succeed. In the aftermath of Brooklyn's thumping, that's the lesson that will stick with him the most. 

"Preparation for this game wasn't how we've prepared for every game, and it showed. I mean, we lost by 45 points to the second-bottom team. The evidence is there. We've just got to do better coming into games."