For possibly the first time in their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee Bucks finally found the right lineup to weather the storm. But it came at the worst possible time: down 1-3 in an elimination game that they eventually let slip through their fingers.
After four games of banging his head against the wall, Doc Rivers rolled out the starting five fans had been screaming for: Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis.
He also finally gave Jericho Sims more minutes than Brook Lopez, a change long overdue based on performance, mobility and matchup logic. It all worked. For most of Game 5, this new look played like the better team.
And then, with the Bucks up four points with under a minute left in regulation, and later up seven points with 35 seconds remaining in overtime, they lost. One last collapse. One last meltdown. One final unraveling to end the season.
Milwaukee’s 118-119 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers spotlighted how much went wrong under Rivers’ stewardship. All the right adjustments were there. But they just came after Milwaukee had dug its own grave.
Doc Rivers' adjustments were too little, too late for the eliminated Bucks
Once the new lineup was in, the Bucks played with pace. They spaced the floor. Porter controlled the offense. Giannis looked comfortable again. Trent and Green provided badly needed shooting, and Portis brought edge and energy. Sims, meanwhile, gave them the best defensive minutes of any center on the roster in this series (That's something that’s been true since Game 1).
This group had already carried Milwaukee during its eight-game win streak to close the regular season. The chemistry was obvious. The metrics backed it up. And yet, it took four playoff games, three blowout losses, and one very public outcry for Rivers to lean into what had been working. For several precious playoff games, Rivers stuck with Taurean Prince, Kyle Kuzma and Brook Lopez against a young and blistering team like the Pacers, and the results spoke for themselves.
For a time, this game was the most competent and composed the Bucks had looked all series until the final 60 seconds, when execution broke down, transition defense disappeared and Tyrese Haliburton took control.
There’s no sugarcoating it: the Milwaukee Bucks blew this. They blew a win-now season where Giannis was healthy. They blew a series that was easily winnable given their talent. Then they blew Game 5 twice in a row, both times in completely embarrassing fashion — first in regulation, then again in OT. And in doing so, learned a harsh truth about Doc Rivers that many teams had already known.
The writing had been on the wall all regular season long. You saw it in his refusal to give young players a chance. You saw it in his lack of a defensive strategy, and the utter absence of any strategy, rhyme or reason in his offensive sets. And most of all, you saw it when he made Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst look like a fool for trying by adding pieces he scarcely used.
Damian Lillard’s absence was a huge factor, yes, but so was a coach who spent half the series (and practically the entire season) deploying bad lineups, slow rotations and stubborn ideas. Rivers seemed to treat the first three games like a regular-season experiment. By the time he played the right cards, Milwaukee was too deep into the storm.
This wasn’t a talent issue. It was a timing issue. And in the NBA Playoffs, timing is everything. That makes it a coaching issue, too.
The Milwaukee Bucks have hard questions ahead, including coaching, roster balance, the health of Damian Lillard and the future next to Giannis Antetokounmpo. But the first question — the one this series forced them to confront — is also the simplest: Why did it take five games to trust the lineups that worked all season?
The answer to that, obviously, is that Doc Rivers waited until he had no other option. Then, when he finally made the move, Milwaukee looked like they belonged.
But it was all too late. It was all for nothing. And that necessitates another question: where do they go from here with Doc Rivers at the helm? Perhaps the answer might be to move on.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis as we head into what is sure to be a long and busy offseason in Milwaukee.