We lost by 45 points to a team that’s trying to lose

Kyle Kuzma on Bucks’ loss to Brooklyn: We lost by 45 points to a team that’s trying to lose

HoopsHype

Dec. 14, 2025, 11:27 p.m. ET

At halftime, they trailed by 17 points. By the end of the third quarter, the Nets’ lead ballooned to 28 points. Less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, it was up over 30 and ultimately stopped at 45 points (tying the Nets’ largest win in franchise history) as the buzzer sounded to end Sunday’s embarrassing effort. It was only the fourth time in franchise history the Bucks have lost by 45 or more points and their worst margin of defeat since a 114-69 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 31, 2007. “No question. Absolutely,” Kuzma said when asked by The Athletic if he viewed this as the low point of the Bucks’ season. “Lost by 45 points to a team that’s trying to lose. They got four wins, five wins, whatever it is now. “No disrespect at all because that’s the beauty of this league, right? There’s so much talent, and if you’re not ready, you’re gonna get your butt whooped. By any team. And we were proof of that tonight.”