Another year, another early exit for the Milwaukee Bucks, who were eliminated from the 2025 NBA playoffs on Tuesday with a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of their first-round series. The Bucks led by as many as 20, and were up by seven with less than 40 seconds to play in the extra frame, but collapsed and gave up an 8-0 run to end the game.
This is the second consecutive season that the Bucks have been knocked out by the Pacers, and the third straight season they've failed to advance past the first round. Since winning the title in 2021, the Bucks have only won one playoff series and are 11-17 in postseason games.
Numerous factors have led to the Bucks' short postseasons, but none have played a bigger part than injuries. The Bucks have been without key players in each of their past four playoff runs. This time around, Damian Lillard, only just back from a blood clot that had kept him out for over a month, tore his Achilles tendon in Milwaukee's Game 4 loss on Sunday.
"I don't know how you deal with it, you just deal with it," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after Game 4. "When your two best players -- one has been out each year, last year both were out, for the most part. This year, Giannis is playing great, now Dame was back, but he was never right, and then he gets hurt. I'll make sense of it this summer. Nothing you can do about it, I do know that."
Of course, you can't talk about the Bucks and injuries in the playoffs without mentioning what happened in 2021 en route to their title. They looked second-best to the Brooklyn Nets in the second round that year, and fell behind 2-0, but were able to stage a major comeback in large part due to injuries to James Harden and Kyrie Irving. If the Nets had stayed healthy, the Bucks may not even have a championship during this era.
Even so, the Bucks have been disproportionally affected by injuries in recent seasons. Is it just bad luck? Not in Giannis Antetokounmpo's view.
"I don't believe in bad luck. I'm too blessed to believe in bad luck," Antetokounmpo said Sunday. "I think everything happens for a reason. Obviously I wish Dame the best. We love him, we're gonna support him, but we just gotta keep on moving forward."
It remains to be seen if Antetokounmpo will move forward with the Bucks. Before what figures to be an eventful summer, here's a look back at why the Bucks have gone home sooner than they expected in the last four years.
2022: Middleton sprains his knee
A year after winning the title, the Bucks went 51-31 to earn the No. 3 seed in a wide-open Eastern Conference that saw the top four teams separated by just two games. Most experts expected them to get back to the Finals, and possibly even repeat as champions.
Those dreams were essentially dashed when Khris Middleton slipped on a wet spot in Game 2 of the Bucks' first-round series with the Chicago Bulls. Middleton was diagnosed with an MCL sprain in his left knee and never played again that postseason.
While the Bucks were still able to dispatch the overmatched Bulls, they didn't have the necessary firepower against the Boston Celtics. They led that series 2-1 and later 3-2 with the chance to close it out at home in Game 6, but lost despite 44 points, 20 rebounds and six assists from Antetokounmpo. Game 7 back in Boston was not close.
2023: Antetokounmpo takes a fall
After a disappointing end in 2022, the Bucks brought back pretty much the same team and were awesome during the 2023 regular season. They had the best record in the league at 58-24, which gave them home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs, and they were once again Finals contenders.
Then, eight minutes into Game 1 of the team's first-round series against the Miami Heat, Antetokounmpo drove to the basket and was undercut by Kevin Love, who arrived late while taking a charge. Antetokounmpo landed square on his back and didn't return until Game 4.
The Bucks were already down 2-1 at that point, but still could have won the series. In fact, even with Antetokounmpo playing through severe pain, they had 15-point leads in Games 4 and 5. Somehow, through a combination of late-game mistakes and heroic moments from Jimmy Butler, they lost both.
2024: Antetokounmpo and Lillard both sidelined
The collapse against the Heat spelled the end for long-time coach Mike Budenholzer, who was relieved of his duties and replaced by Adrian Griffin. A few months later, the Bucks swung a blockbuster trade to acquire Lillard, and there was sunshine, lollipops and rainbows in Milwaukee once again.
Once again, the good times were short-lived. Despite a 30-13 record at the time, Griffin was fired after 118 days in charge because he never got on the same page with his veteran stars. Rivers was hired as his replacement, but barely got a chance to coach his best players.
Middleton missed significant time down the stretch, then Antetokounmpo strained his calf on April 9 in Game No. 79, which turned out to be a season-ending injury. Antetokounmpo never suited up in the team's first-round series against the Pacers, but with Middleton back alongside Lillard, the Bucks were still hopeful of advancing.
Instead, Lillard strained his Achilles tendon during the team's heartbreaking overtime loss in Game 3 and was forced to sit out of Games 4 and 5. Though he returned for Game 6, he was not himself, and Middleton and everyone else was out of gas. They got blown out in Indianapolis, ending another season in frustrating circumstances.
2025: Lillard's blood clot and Achilles tendon tear
Heading into this season, there were split opinions on the Bucks. The glass half-full view was that they had a full offseason with Rivers, Antetokounmpo and Lillard were healthy and still one of the best duos in the league and they had made some smart value signings. The glass half-empty view was that Rivers was an untrustworthy coach, Lillard and Middleton were at different points of their careers and they didn't have enough depth.
Both takes were correct at various points of the season. By the time the playoffs rolled around, Middleton had been traded for Kyle Kuzma and Lillard was sidelined with a blood clot in his calf. Some still thought they could beat the Pacers in the first round, but there were no real playoff expectations.
That remained true even when Lillard made a stunning return in Game 2 and helped them win Game 3 to get on the board in the series. Unfortunately, his return ended a few minutes into Game 4 when he took a wrong step and tore his Achilles tendon, ending this season and potentially costing him all of next season as well.
Without Lillard, the Bucks were emotionally spent in Game 4, and fell apart down the stretch in Game 5.
