In the Milwaukee Bucks’ first game since star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with a groin injury, the team lost in overtime to the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-114. 

This marked the Bucks’ third loss in a row, and first since the two-time MVP was ruled out for 1-2 weeks. 

“We played pretty well,” Kyle Kuzma said in a postgame interview. “I think we had our moments where we didn’t play too well, just like any other game. I think probably turnovers probably killed us early on in the game that put us at a deficit, ‘cause we were shooting almost 50% for most of the game, right? Offensive rebounding on their end, they did a great job. We didn’t do it. We did a pretty poor job on that.”

Kuzma went on to say that the Bucks will have more success without their star when they clean up the little mistakes that, in the case against Philadelphia on Nov. 20, accumulated over the course of the game. 

“I would just say it’s all the little things,” Kuzma said. “We gave ourselves a chance. I fouled somebody at the end of regulation. So it’s just little things, but they all add up. And if we can clear those up, we’ll be much better off, even without [Antetokounmpo].” 

With an undermanned roster, Kuzma will need to continue to step up alongside his fellow Milwaukee teammates to compensate for the loss of Antetokounmpo, as well as Kevin Porter Jr. and Taurean Prince, who are also nursing injuries. 

Against the 76ers, Kuzma scored 17 points. On the season, the eight-year veteran is averaging 13.5 points per game. 

Other players who will be leaned on are Ryan Rollins and Myles Turner, who have established themselves as two of Milwaukee’s more consistent scorers through the first month of the season.

Rollins is averaging 18.3 points per game so far this campaign, while Turner is averaging 12.4 points per game. 

This will certainly be marked as an inflection point in Milwaukee’s season, as this next stretch of games will present a chance to see how the team fares without such a major piece of their operation in Antetokounmpo.

If the Bucks can weather the storm and stay afloat in the Eastern Conference until Antetokounmpo returns to the court, then that will serve the franchise well down the stretch, especially if the team knows in the back of its mind it can handle business without its perennial all-star in the lineup. 

Milwaukee’s next 10 contests are against fellow Eastern Conference teams. Of those 10 games, three will be against the Detroit Pistons, who are 13-2 and have solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the league.

Tip-off against Detroit is set for 8 p.m. on Nov. 22.