Milwaukee has lost two games in a row for the first time in nearly two months after falling 117-111 to Toronto Wednesday night.

The Bucks scored 77 points in the first half but went cold in the second and didn’t have enough to overcome 33 points and six assists from Pascal Siakam. That effort helped the Raptors mov to 2-0 this season against the defending NBA champions.

Milwaukee was paced by Khris Middleton’s 25 points, while Jordan Nwora had 17. Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 12 assists but also turned the ball over eight times.

Center DeMarcus Cousins gave the Bucks 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, but after the game The Athletic reported that the veteran would be waived in an effort to keep roster flexibility in advance of contracts across the league becoming guaranteed on Friday. Cousins averaged 8.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game since signing with the club last month.

The Milwaukee Bucks plan to waive center DeMarcus Cousins, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Bucks are opting for roster flexibility ahead of league-wide contract guarantee date Friday. There’s expected to be interest in Cousins as a free agent.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 6, 2022

On waiving DeMarcus Cousins to open roster spot for trade deadline, Bucks GM Jon Horst tells ESPN: "We wouldn’t have been able to get through this difficult stretch of the season as successfully as we did without DeMarcus…He was so good for us and hopefully we helped him too."

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 6, 2022

The Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo (non-COVID illness), Grayson Allen (COVID), Pat Connaughton (COVID), George Hill (COVID) and Donte DiVincenzo (ankle).

Milwaukee will return to floor Friday night in Brooklyn.