"It's a tough league" – Damian Lillard gets real on the Bucks' poor 1-3 road trip

Despite the clear disappointment, Dame wants the Bucks to maintain focus with plenty of games to bounce back.

© Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

From leaving their territory with high hopes last week, the Milwaukee Bucks are going home with an unpleasant taste in their mouth off to their grinding four-game Western Conference road trip. The Bucks will make a return to Milwaukee holding an abysmal 1-3 card as they got severely tested by the four California-based powerhouses.

Live to the results

Milwaukee entered the away scenes with a sizzling form — boasting an unblemished record of 6-0 since the All-Star break. But upon their exit in this recent road stretch, they seem to be puzzled and scrambling again to find their contending identity.

The Bucks concluded the stretch this Tuesday with a demoralizing 129-94 defeat against the Sacramento Kings, which is a replication of the 125-90 huge loss they absorbed on Thursday against the Golden State Warriors. And while they picked up a solid 124-117 Sunday victory against the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George-less L.A. Clippers, their 123-122 Friday close defeat against the Los Angeles Lakers will continue to haunt them.

“It happens sometimes. It happens like that. That's probably not what y'all want to hear, but it does,” Dame said about their 1-3 road trip finish. “It's a tough league, and this was a tough trip. You coming on the West Coast, Golden State played really well at home. They played an infectious style of basketball, and they got good players, great players. They see the ball go in, they were coming off a bad loss and had some days off. They had a great game.

“Then you go back-to-back games in L.A., and those aren't easy games, you know? And finishing the trip with this one [in Sacramento] is not an easy one, either.”

Move forward for the better

In the end, the Bucks are keeping their heads high as they leave their mark from the challenging, yet constructive road trip. For Dame, they have no time to dwell on their past shortcomings as they'll refocus towards recovering their footing to eventually finish the regular season on a desired note.

“This could have been a great trip to going 1-3. I think you just got to roll with that and understand what took place. 14 games left or 15 games left, we just got to keep addressing those things and keep pushing,” Dame concluded.

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