It's been absolutely maddening that, just like with Mike Budenholzer and Adrian Griffin, it feels like we talk about the exact same coaching mistakes from Doc Rivers every week or so without any changes. We've talked about this one since a few weeks into the regular season, and yet nothing has changed for the Milwaukee Bucks days before the start of the playoffs.
The Milwaukee Bucks can’t afford to wait until it’s too late because a few weeks from now, it just might be. One specific lineup pairing is already screaming to be benched — and if the Milwaukee Bucks don’t fix it before the Indiana Pacers catch wind, it could sink them in the postseason.
Surely you know where this is going by now. It’s the two-man lineup of Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez.
It’s not just about the numbers this time around — though they certainly are what they are, and we’ll definitely get to those shortly — but it’s more so about the matchup in this case. The Pacers are one of, if not the fastest-paced, team left in the postseason. They want to run, run and run some more. A frontcourt with both Portis and Lopez on the floor at the same time is begging to be run off the court.
Lopez and Portis should never see the floor together against the Pacers
The 23 minutes they’ve played together across three games since Portis returned from his 25-game suspension have been brutal, even if it's somewhat an improvement, considering they once used to play close to whole quarters together. Yet, considering the inevitable result and practically an entire season's worth of sample size, it's quite curious that Rivers even considered putting the two together again.
The numbers, naturally, haven't gotten any better. An offensive rating of just 64 points per 100 possessions, 128 points allowed per 100 and a net-minus 64. That’s not just bad. That’s unplayable.
It's not the players themselves; it's what happens when you play them together.
The two are fine players: Portis is the team's emotional leader, while Lopez is its defensive anchor. Portis and Lopez are both capable interior players individually who can both stretch the floor and hit shots, but the issue is mobility more than anything else. Pairing them together creates a slow, clunky tandem that can’t switch or recover fast enough when teams push the pace.
Lopez has been Milwaukee’s best paint protector for years, but he's always been most effective surrounded by mobile wings and guards. Portis, meanwhile, is better as a small-ball five or a bench scorer in matchups where he can hunt mismatches.
Together, they clog spacing and slow transition defense to a halt — exactly what Indiana will be looking to exploit. And there's no time to waste.
The Milwaukee Bucks need to start looking at alternatives now.
Will Doc Rivers give the obvious alternative another chance?
The good news? Jericho Sims is available for the first round after recovering from a torn ligament in his right thumb. He may not be a floor-spacer or scorer, but what he can do is run the floor, crash the glass and provide vertical rim protection. He makes more sense next to either Portis or Lopez individually than playing those two side-by-side.
And the biggest thing is this: according to Cleaning the Glass, opponents are scoring -2.2 points fewer per 100 possessions and rebounding four percentage points less of their misses when Sims is on the floor. He's in the 71st and 95th percentile in defensive rating and offensive rebounding, respectively, in his position.
Doc Rivers obviously will always carry the reputation of leaning on his established veterans instead of younger, less proven players with upside. But we also saw just a year ago that when Patrick Beverley wasn't working out against the Pacers, he called on a then-rookie Andre Jackson Jr. - and got excellent results. We certainly hope he'll make the same call this time around with Sims.
Bottom line: there’s no scenario where Portis-Lopez minutes should happen in this series unless the Milwaukee Bucks are up 25 in garbage time. The margins are too thin. The matchups are too quick. The game is too fast.
Doc’s been around long enough to know when to cut a losing hand. This is one of those times.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.