It was a rough Saturday for the Milwaukee Bucks, losing Game 1 of the playoffs 117-98 to the Indiana Pacers.
The Bucks fell behind by eight early in the first quarter, and bar a late fourth quarter run, they never looked like getting back in the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo was brilliant as ever, and the bench unit provided solid scoring, but the rest of the starting lineup was woeful.
Doc Rivers didn't help himself by continuing to roll out the starting five of Kyle Kuzma, Taurean Prince, Ryan Rollins, Brook Lopez and Giannis despite it not working, and the Pacers took advantage of their speed and athleticism.
There was one pairing that worked before Rivers seemed to move away from it. If the Bucks want any chance of winning the series, they have to take advantage of where they have the upper hand.
Jericho Sims was impactful and needed to play more alongside Giannis
It was Jericho Sims' first game back after missing time due to a thumb injury, and he only played nine minutes. It is frustrating that the Bucks know the Pacers are great in transition and look to use their youthfulness to blow past teams. Sims helped the Bucks defensively and on the boards, managing to slow the Pacers frontcourt of Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner down to some degree.
The eight-game win streak to end the regular season saw the Bucks excel with a lineup of Giannis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green and Bobby Portis. Giannis finished the game with 36 points, 12 rebounds, a steal and two blocks. He registered just one assist, which is his lowest in a game since January. The rest of the starters just were not hitting shots.
Kuzma will have better games, but finishing without a single number in the box score in 22 minutes is a huge red flag when he was the team's big midseason acquisition. Defensively, he and Lopez were just two easy for the Pacers to get by, creating plenty of wide open looks, and Tyrese Haliburton didn't have a great offensive game but still pieced up the Milwaukee Bucks' defense for 12 assists.
Sims brings athleticism and versatility that were so clearly needed before the season even started. It is needed even more after watching that first game.
Alongside Giannis, in the regular season, the two boasted a defensive rating of 83.6. Add that to Porter, Trent and Green (all scored double-digits), and there is a recipe for the Bucks to win games. At times, they can slow the game down and use Lopez, Kuzma, Portis and Prince, but you will have to go toe-to-toe with the Pacers, and Rivers refused to do so.
What was more baffling was when the Bucks started the second half with the starting lineup that caused so many problems. Not sure what Rivers saw or said during the break, but it had no effect. Only late in the fourth did Milwaukee put a good run together, led by Green, who hit a number of huge 3-point looks. As a team, they made 9-of-37 (24.3 percent) from deep. Green alone was 5-for-11 (45.5 percent).
Damian Lillard is set to return in Game 2 or 3 and bolster the scoring that was so absent in Game 1. It is obvious that the Milwaukee Bucks bench players are better suited for this series and were the reason it was ONLY a 19-point loss.
If Rivers can make the change to use those guys more, in particular Sims, then the Milwaukee Bucks can comfortably win the series.
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