The Milwaukee Bucks are looking to avoid being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season. They are down 2-0 to the Indiana Pacers as the series heads to Milwaukee for Game 3 on Friday night.
“We’ve gotten off to two poor starts, and we’ve got to make an adjustment there, for sure,” Rivers said via The Athletic’s Eric Nehm. “We’ll just see. We have time.
“I’m not gonna tell you what I’m doing right now. Rivers added. “We’ll figure it out, I’m very confident about this series. Very.”
Here is the thing: only 34 teams in NBA history have come back in a series from a 2-0 deficit. However, seven teams have accomplished the feat this century. The Pacers are the most recent team to do so, defeating the New York Knicks in seven games in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals after dropping the first two contests.
Doc Rivers To Shake Things Up As Bucks “Very Confident” About First-Round Series
Milwaukee took three of four from Indiana during the regular season. However, the Bucks have been outscored by 240 – 213 through the first two playoff games. Defense is a big issue for Milwaukee, with the Bucks allowing 120 points a game on 50.3% shooting and 29 threes at a 41.5% clip. The Bucks were without Damian Lillard in Game 1, although he appears to be completely healthy, as he is no longer on the team’s injury report.
Part of Milwaukee’s issues against Indiana is that the Bucks have gotten off to slow starts at each half. The Bucks have been outscored by a combined 18 points in the first quarter and were by four in the third quarter of Game 2.
“We don’t want to put ourselves in a hole early in the game,” Giannis Antetokounmpo told reporters. “I think we’ve done it in two games. We also did it in the third quarter. It’s hard to play from behind. We just gotta be smarter the way we play, be more urgent when we start the game; hopefully, we can be the one to set the tone and not them.”
Kyle Kuzma, Taurean Prince, and Brook Lopez have struggled mightily during the first two games. Rivers already made one lineup change, replacing Ryan Rollins with Lillard in Game 2.
Bucks Confidence In Ability To Make It A True Series?
There are probably a couple of reasons that Rivers is confident in the Bucks. The Bucks are very experienced and have not played good basketball in the first two games. The Bucks are better at home than on the rod; they had success against the Pacers during the regular season.
Through the first two games of the Pacers series, Milwaukee is shooting 46.2% from the field and canned 11.5 threes at a 31.1% clip. For the season, Milwaukee averages over six points more at home than the Bucks do on the road, as they make nearly 50% of their shots, including 15 treys at 40%.
It shouldn’t be surprising that Milwaukee has had slow starts in the first two games. The Bucks were outscored for 1.1 points in the first quarter throughout the season on the road. Conversely, the Bucks are +2.4 points in the opening quarter at home through the first 12 minutes.
Moreover, Antetokounmpo has been terrific through the first two games, though he has struggled at the free-throw line. Antetokounmpo averages 35 points, 15 rebounds, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks while shooting 65.1% from the field.
Bobby Portis has also been very good through the first two games. Portis is averaging a double-double with 16 points, 10 caroms, and three threes at a 40% clip.
What Could Rivers Do To Adjust Bucks’ Lineup?
Rivers has given 12 players some run during the postseason thus far. However, only eight players have seen time in both games. Antetokounmpo, Kuzma, Prince, Lillard, and Lopez were in the starters lineup in Game 2’s 123-115 loss. All but Lillard have started both games. The Bucks starters have been outscored by 27 points, while their bench has played even.
The Antetokounmpo, Kuzma, Prince, Lillard, and Lopez starting lineup is Rivers’ second most used starting lineup this year. The Bucks are 8-7 in the 15 games that those five have started together, as they were 8-6 during the regular season.
So, why has the Bucks’ starting unit—which ranked 12th in the league—struggled so much through the first two games? Matchups are the biggest reason. Lopez has been limited to 37 minutes in the series, as he doesn’t match up well against Myles Turner.
Milwaukee’s bigger issue is on the perimeter. Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhart are just too quick for Lillard and Prince. Granted, Lillard is not known for his defense anyways. Additionally, Kuzma also doesn’t defend well.
I don’t expect Rivers to pull Lopez from the starting unit, though that makes some sense. If he does that, Portis would be inserted at the five. Porter, who brings lots of energy, has been much more productive as a starter this year and throughout his career.
Rivers Most likely Moves
If Rivers does insert Portis in the first five, Portis would likely replace Kuzma, not Lopez. By replacing Kuzma with Portis, the Bucks would have a stronger defensive frontcourt with lots of length. Also, with Portis playing well and Kuzma not, it should also jump-start the Bucks’ offense. Portis and Antetokounmpo can guard all three spots up front.
Replacing Kuzma or Prince in the starting lineup makes the most sense for Rivers. If Rivers does that, he does have several options. He could insert Gary Trent Jr. or AJ Green for those two. Trent and Green undoubtedly give the Bucks shooters to space the floor, thus giving Lillard and Antetokounmpo more operating room.
It is not a given that Rivers will replace multiple starters. Rivers could decide to insert either Trent or Kevin Porter Jr. for either Prince or Kuzma. If that occurs, Trent or Porter would play the two and likely be responsible for “checking” Haliburton, thus leaving Lillard to guard Nesmith. Prince or Kuzma would then “man” Aaron Nesmith.
Rivers could keep Trent and Porter on the bench as they are important pieces of the Bucks’ second unit. Instead, Rivers could start Andre Jackson Jr. Jackson has seen just one minute of action during the series. But the 23-year-old started 43 of his 67 appearances this year and saw 60 minutes over five playoff games last season.
By giving Jackson some run with the starters, the Bucks would lose some offense production. But Jackson has the physical traits and defensive IQ to provide some disruption to the Pacers offense. If Jackson does get the start, he likely won’t play many minutes. He averaged 17 minutes throughout the regular season in the contests he picked up the start, which included two games of seeing the floor less than 10 minutes. The Bucks posted a 25-18 record with Jackson in the starting lineup.
Photo Credit: © Stephen Lew, Imagn Images
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