Bucks remain confident they can turn things around after losing 6 of their first 7 games

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers says the team isn’t putting any extra pressure on itself as it tries to bounce back from the franchise’s slowest start in three decades.

The Bucks (1-6) will try to snap a six-game skid Thursday against the Utah Jazz (1-6) while continuing to play without three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton as he recovers from offseason surgery to each of his ankles.

“The worry is outside the building, I guarantee you that,” Rivers said Wednesday. “There’s none inside the building.”

Milwaukee’s slow start surely has delighted rival teams that would love to acquire two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo if he were to get disgruntled and request a trade. Antetokounmpo, who didn’t play in the Bucks’ 116-114 loss at Cleveland on Monday due to a strained adductor muscle, said the Bucks started taking some steps in the right direction over the weekend.

“That doesn’t mean we are going to a five-game winning streak or 10-game winning streak, but I know that we are playing better and we trust one another better,” Antetokounmpo said Saturday after a 114-113 home loss to Cleveland. “The ball is moving. There’s a lot of good things that we can do. That’s all we can control.”

Milwaukee won a title as recently as 2021, and the Bucks’ sense of urgency to get a second championship during Antetokounmpo’s prime has been evident for some time.

Former coach Mike Budenholzer was fired after the Bucks posted the NBA’s best regular-season record in 2022-23 but lost to Miami in the first round of the playoffs. Budenholzer was replaced by Adrian Griffin, who got fired midway through last season despite owning a 30-13 record. The Bucks have gone 18-25 since Rivers’ arrival, not including their 4-2 first-round playoff loss to Indiana last season.

Rivers insists there’s “zero pressing from us” and cited the decision to rest Antetokounmpo for Monday’s game to make sure the 6-foot-11 forward stayed as healthy as possible with the Bucks playing five games in a seven-day stretch. Antetokounmpo is listed as questionable for Thursday's game.

“This is a positive group,” Rivers said. “We believe we’re a really good basketball team that has played poorly at times. The last two games you could say we played well and lost the games.”

The Bucks remain confident they can turn it around.

“You’re going to have these funks,” forward Bobby Portis said. “It’s just our funk came at the start of the season.”

The cause for concern is recent history showing how tough it is to bounce back from this kind of start. This marks the longest the Bucks have taken to earn their second win of a season since 1993-94, when they won their season opener and then dropped 10 straight. That team finished 20-62.

Twenty teams in NBA history have made the playoffs after winning no more than one of their first seven games, according to Sportradar, but only three have done it this century: Miami in 2003-04, Chicago in 2004-05 and New Orleans in 2021-22. Eight of those 20 teams played from 1956-68, during an era when an overwhelming majority of teams made the playoffs.

Milwaukee should get a boost whenever Middleton returns, but nobody knows when that will be. Rivers was asked Wednesday if this is now becoming more of a week-to-week situation rather than a day-to-day issue.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” Rivers said. “That’s a good question that I can’t answer.”

Milwaukee has faced other obstacles as well.

The Bucks played six of their first eight games away from home. Three of their losses came to the defending champion Boston Celtics and the undefeated Cavaliers. The two games with the Cavs were decided by a combined three points.

Milwaukee is home for four of its next five games, which gives the Bucks an opportunity to recover.

“It can only go up from here,” Portis said. “It can’t get worse than what it is right now.”

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Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo tries to get past Cleveland Cavaliers' Evan Mobley during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Bobby Portis gets past Cleveland Cavaliers' Georges Niang during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after making a shot and being fouled during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) drives past Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, rear, in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers shouts to an official in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba on Wednesday as a powerful Category 3 hurricane, shortly after powerful winds knocked out the country’s power grid.

Forecasters warned Rafael could bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds and flash floods to western swaths of the island after it knocked out power and dumped rain on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica the day before.

The storm was located 40 miles (65 kilometers) south-southwest of Havana on Wednesday. It had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) and was moving northwest at 14 mph (22 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is bad news for Cuba, which is struggling with devastating blackouts while recovering from another hurricane two weeks ago that killed at least six people in the eastern part of the island.

On Wednesday, the Cuban government issued an alert for the incoming storm while crews in Havana worked to fortify buildings and clear scraps from seaside areas in anticipation of flooding.

Classes and public transport were suspended on parts of the island and authorities canceled flights in and out Havana and Varadero. Meanwhile, thousands of people in the west of the island were evacuated as a prevention measure.

Silvia Pérez, a 72-year-old retiree living in a coastal area of Havana was among those scrambling to prepare. As other neighbors moved appliances and other furniture from ground floor homes, Pérez stocked up on water and food.

“This is a night I don’t want to sleep through, between the battering air and the trees,” Pérez said. “I’m scared for my friends and family.”

Forecasters expected the storm to weaken over Cuba before emerging in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane.

The U.S. State Department issued an advisory for Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, offering departure flights to non-essential staff and American citizens, and advising others to “reconsider travel to Cuba due to the potential impact of Tropical Storm Rafael.”

On Tuesday morning, the Cuban Civil Defense called on Cubans to prepare as soon as possible, because when the storm makes landfall “it’s important to stay where you are.”

A hurricane warning was in effect Wednesday for the Cuban provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas and the Isle of Youth.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Cuban provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus and Ciego de Avila, as well as the lower and middle Florida Keys from Key West to west of the Channel 5 Bridge, and Dry Tortugas.

The storm on Tuesday knocked out power in parts of Jamaica and unleashed flooding and landslides. The Jamaica Public Service, the island’s electricity provider, said in a statement late Tuesday that impassable roads were preventing crews from restoring power in some areas.

Power outages were reported across the Cayman Islands after a direct hit late Tuesday, and schools remained closed on Wednesday.

“While conditions have improved on Grand Cayman, residents are advised to exercise extreme caution on the roads and near coastlines as rough seas and residual flooding risks may persist,” the government said in a statement.

Heavy rainfall also was expected to spread north into Florida and nearby areas of the southeast U.S. during the middle to late part of the week. The Hurricane Center predicted storm surges in Florida could reach up to 3 feet in Dry Tortugas and between 1 and 2 feet in the Lower Florida Keys. A few tornadoes also were expected Wednesday over the Keys and southwestern Florida.

Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the 2024 hurricane season was likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast called for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Associated Press reporter Megan Janetsky contributed from Mexico City.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Waves break on the beach during the passing of Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man walks through the wind and rain brought by Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man walks through the wind and rain brought by Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People at a bus stop shield themselves with cardboard amid wind and rain during the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Rafael on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in the Caribbean. (NOAA via AP)

Waves crash against the jetty at the Bal Harbour Lighthouse on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Bal Harbour, Fla. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)

A worker cuts the branches of the palm tree on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Miami Beach, Fla. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)

A surfer looks the waves crashing against the jetty at the Bal Harbour Lighthouse on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Bal Harbour, Fla. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP)

A man walks past the the U.S. Embassy during rains brought on by tropical storm Rafael in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)