76ers 130, Bucks 95: With plenty on the line, the Bucks flop into the postseason

PHILADELPHIA - The Milwaukee Bucks saved their worst for last.

With playoff seeding and a first-round draft pick hanging in the balance, the Bucks put forth an atrocious display at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night, falling 130-95, to the Philadelphia 76ers. The 35-point margin represents Milwaukee's biggest blowout loss of the season.

"We didn't finish strong and we didn't play well and that's very disappointing," Bucks coach Joe Prunty said. "Hopefully it's a learning lesson for us."

The 76ers played without all-star Joel Embiid (fractured orbital bone) and sharpshooter J.J. Redick, who was scratched from the starting lineup due to back tightness moments before the game.

Shortly after the Bucks-76ers game finished, the playoff situation began to come into focus. With their win, the 76ers were locked into the No. 3 seed. A loss by the Washington Wizards against the Orlando Magic cemented the Wizards into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.

BOX SCORE: 76ers 130, Bucks 95

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Then, with players in the Bucks locker room watching on their phones, the Miami Heat battled the Toronto Raptors in overtime. With a Heat win, the Bucks would head to Boston to play the Celtics in the playoffs. With a Heat loss, the Bucks would be right back in Philadelphia this weekend.

Miami took control late to earn a 116-109 victory, tying the Bucks for sixth at 44-38 in the process. Due to the tiebreaker, the Heat jumped to the No. 6 seed and the Bucks moved to No. 7 for a date with the Celtics.

That series will begin at noon Sunday at TD Garden in Boston, with the first game in Milwaukee scheduled for Friday, April 20.

BUCKS-CELTICS: Full series schedule

No one in the locker room seemed upset with that turn of events, with one player saying, "Way to go, Miami."

While Milwaukee's playoff situation was no secret to the players or coaches heading into Wednesday's game, each of them agreed it had no influence on their approach. They weren't trying to lose and get a lower seed — they just got smoked.

“We had to approach it like a regular game because us winning could put us in a position or us losing could have put us in a position," center John Henson said. "We didn’t come out and play well but that’s the outcome. We’ve got to play Boston, seventh seed, and go from there. ...

"I feel OK. You want to be the highest seed possible because hypothetically that means that’s the easier route. We’re seventh. We were eighth for a long time and got up a spot, so can’t complain.”

With Miami's victory, the Bucks will need to wait to find out if they will keep their first-round draft pick or if it will convey to the Phoenix Suns from the Eric Bledsoe-Greg Monroe trade. The NBA will soon conduct a tiebreaker to see which team — the Bucks or Heat — will pick 16th in the draft and which will pick 17th. If the Bucks slot into the 16th pick, that selection will go to Phoenix. If they slot into the 17th pick, Milwaukee will delay having to send it away for at least a year.

As for the specifics of Wednesday's game in Philadelphia — if it wasn't clear from the score — the contest was never close.

The 76ers scored 46 points while making 8 of 11 three-pointers in the first quarter alone and didn't let up, finishing the half with an 80-44 lead.The 46 points were the most scored against the Bucks in a quarter all season and the 80 were the most by an opposing team in half against Milwaukee.

The Bucks were listless and defense-averse and forced things on offense from the beginning. That combination will generally hurt a team, especially against the hottest team in the NBA. Philadelphia became the first team to close the regular season with 16 straight wins.

With less than five minutes left in the second quarter, the Bucks had as many turnovers as field goals (10). At that same time, the 76ers had already made 11 three-pointers and owned a 70-29 lead, their largest advantage of the night.

"Defensively you can start with not getting back, you can start with not contesting threes, cutters — losing vision on cutters — the list is pretty long," Prunty said when asked about the issues in the first quarter and half. "Offensively we needed to move the ball a little bit better. ... Didn't really execute all the little things."

Milwaukee's starters, who all subbed out with 6 minutes 36 seconds left in the third quarter, couldn't get anything going during their time on the court. Only Tony Snell returned to the lost cause

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 10 points on 5 of 14 shooting and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes but also committed five turnovers. Bledsoe made both of his shots and had six points but picked up two early fouls and there was never really any point to getting him back in the game. Khris Middleton finished with four points on 2 of 8 shooting.

“Obviously we didn’t put much effort into the game," said Antetokounmpo, who mentioned that his right ankle, which kept him out of the past two games, is feeling great now. "They were able to get the lead and after that, it was just bad. ... Just stepped on the floor and we didn’t play the right way. We got out of our system and that’s why they were able to get a lead and win.”

Jabari Parker, who got extended playing time off the bench with the game out of hand for so long, put up 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting. In just his second game back from injury, Malcolm Brogdon chipped in 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting in 18 minutes, including making his first 3 three-pointers.

None of those efforts was anywhere close to good enough as the 76ers had six players score in double figures, led by Justin Anderson with 25 points and Dario Saric with 24.

The 76ers also got a triple-double from one of their rookies, but it wasn't the one you'd expect. No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz put up his first career triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, drawing chants of his name that filled the arena. Rookie of the year contender Ben Simmons finished with four points, seven assists, six rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes.

As poorly-played and embarrassing as Wednesday's loss might have been for the Bucks, it's not a contest they'll dwell on for long since it has no bearing on how things will go for them in the playoffs. At most, it will be something they'll try to use as motivation as they try to win the franchise's first playoff series since 2001.

“Just got to shake it off," Antetokounmpo said. "The regular season is over. It’s playoff time now and we’ve got to go there and try to advance. ...

"You lose by 30, 40 it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. Got to go back, get better, work on your game and hopefully when the time is right in the playoff time you can bring your A-game.”

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

Gang's all here: With Matthew Dellavedova activated for his first game since Feb. 4 and Antetokounmpo back in the lineup after missing the past two games, the Bucks had their whole roster healthy for the first time all season.

"We would have loved to have had more time to work it in terms of more games than just one or two, but that’s not where we are," Prunty said. "We need to take advantage of that opportunity to see what it looks like.”

Considering Parker went down with a torn left ACL on the same day Middleton made his season debut following a torn left hamstring last season, it's actually been much longer since the Bucks have been whole.

The last time the team had its whole roster healthy was Nov. 27, 2015, against the Orlando Magic. Interestingly enough, Prunty was also the coach that night as head coach Jason Kidd missed that game while serving a suspension.

Ironman: When the ball was tipped Wednesday night, Middleton officially started all 82 games this season. He's the only Bucks player to appear in every game and the first since Monta Ellis in 2012-'13 to start all 82 games in a campaign.

Middleton ended the season ranked second in the NBA in total minutes at 2,982. Only LeBron James (3,026) played more.

“It’s cool, man," Middleton said. "First off, it’s a blessing to be able to be out here for 82 games straight and start 82 games. Since I was a kid I always wanted to play, never took it for granted. To be up there with LeBron in minutes is pretty cool knowing how he takes care of his body in his 15th year — and he’s still doing it. For me, it was a goal of mine coming off of injury. I’m glad I was able to play a full 82 healthy.”