4 Takeaways from Bucks' Brutal Halloween Beatdown by Banged-Up Grizzlies

No wings, no problem for Memphis on a spooky Thursday night.

Oct 31, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives to the basket as Memphis Grizzlies forward Jake LaRavia (3) and guard Ja Morant (12) defends during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

On a spooky Halloween night for the Milwaukee Bucks, they dropped a "gimme" game against an injury-depleted Memphis Grizzlies squad in an uncompetitive 122-98 blowout. It was their fourth straight defeat, after opening the season with a win against a Philadelphia 76ers squad missing All-Stars Joel Embiid and Paul George.

The Grizzlies were without starters Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart, plus key reserves Vince Williams Jr., GG Jackson II, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard. Rookie guard Cam Spencer was also shelved, though he's not a big part of head coach Taylor Jenkins' rotation. Milwaukee was missing just one rotation player, starter Khris Middleton. This was, on paper, a winnable game. But the Bucks were absolutely smoked, with a younger, feistier Grizzlies team taking advantage of a Bucks club that looked to be perpetually stuck in the mud.

Here are our five takeaways from a disastrous night in FedEx Forum.

1. It's Time To Make A Change At Starting Shooting Guard For Milwaukee

Gary Trent Jr. is indeed this year's Malik Beasley, in more ways than one. He's a solid scorer hoping to rehabilitate his value around the league by playing on a veteran's minimum contract for a supposed contender, he's a bit slight to serve as the Bucks' starting two-guard, and he can't defend anybody.

But Beasley enjoyed one of his best-ever shooting seasons with Milwaukee, en route to inking a richer deal with the Detroit Pistons in free agency this summer.

Trent, who might be a more versatile scorer than Beasley generally, has been having trouble from long range this year. He played just 18:09, scoring nine points on 4-of-12 shooting from the floor (0-of-7 from deep), while nabbing two rebounds and a steal. He registered a -23 plus-minus. This year, the former Duke Blue Devil is averaging just 9.8 points on .357/.276/.917 shooting splits, 1.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals.

Deep-bench backup Grizzlies shooting guard Jaylen Wells, elevated to a starting role with Desmond Bane nursing an injury, had a big night at Trent's expense. Wells scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field (3-of-6 from long range) and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds and an assist.

It's time for Doc Rivers to either promote Delon Wright to shooting guard or shift Taurean Prince (a.k.a. this year's Jae Crowder), currently starting in the stead of injured former All-Star small forward Khris Middleton, to the two-guard gig. Trent just cannot share too much floor time with Damian Lillard. And speaking of Lillard...

2. Damian Lillard May Just Be In a Different Phase of His Career For Good

The eight-time All-Star blamed his diminished play last season on an overly cautious summer in which he didn't work out, anticipating his eventual trade. But he's got no excuses now.

Lillard's horrific defensive coverage on Ja Morant essentially gave the Grizzlies guard a green light to easy layups. Lillard, himself, had one of his worst nights ever as a pro, scoring just four points on 1-of-12 shooting from the floor (0-of-6 from deep) and 2-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe, while dishing out six assists, grabbing two rebounds and swiping one steal.

3. The Bucks Still Cannot Contain Elite Guards

This rule extends to pretty much any perimeter player, and tonight it extended to All-NBA Grizzlies superstar point guard Ja Morant. The 6-foot-2 vet feasted on the Bucks' horrific backcourt defense, notching his 12th career triple-double with 26 points on 9-of-16 field goal shooting (2-of-5 from deep) and 6-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in just 29 very breezy minutes of play.

Swapping in a better defender next to Lillard is the clear fix. It may also be time to consider a trade, though the Bucks don't have a ton of plus assets, contract-wise.

4. The Bucks Are Looking Their Age

Even though the Grizzlies were playing on the second night of a back-to-back set of games, Memphis looked like the fresher team.

Memphis galloped to a dominant 70-48 first half edge, and the Bucks offered little resistance the rest of the way. The Bucks sport four starters aged 29 or older (three were 30 or older, and Giannis Antetokounmpo will join them in December), and they looked slow and plodding incomparison to a springier, deeper Memphis squad.

The Grizzlies finished the night connecting on 52.4 percent of their shots (43-of-82) from the floor and 90.3 percent of their frequent free throws (28-of-31). Seven Grizzlies scored in double figures in a balanced scoring affair: starters Santi Aldama, Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Edey, Wells and Morant, plus reserve guards Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jake LaRavia.

5. Doc Rivers "Hot Seat" Watch Is On

Milwaukee's head coach must have been aware that Lillard had absolutely no fight on either end of the court. He at least seemed to notice that Trent also couldn't hit the broad side of the barn, as Wright actually played two more minutes than Trent (though he played more garbage minutes in the fourth quarter with the game already decided), and scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field (2-of-2 from deep) while nabbing a +10.

This is the Bucks' fourth straight loss. Milwaukee has had a major health or talent advantage, on paper, in four of its five games (the Boston Celtics being the exception). The team won't get a reprieve until next week. First, Milwaukee will have to get by the undefeated (5-0) Cleveland Cavaliers, against whom it squares off on Saturday and Monday in a little home-and-home mini-series. That means it's quite conceivable that a club fielding a healthy Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard could start off its season dropping six of its first seven games. At some point, even a head coach as decorated as Doc Rivers will come under scrutiny should the losing continue.

Outside of some rotational stubbornness (again, it's time for someone other than Gary Trent to start), this isn't really Rivers' fault. Team president Jon Horst whiffed on several young draft picks, and probably overreacted in trading All-Defensive combo guard Jrue Holiday to add Lillard in the first place. He'll have to do some deft maneuvering to get out of this mess.

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