Is Milwaukee finally starting to breathe under Doc Rivers?
On January 23, the Milwaukee Bucks fired head coach Adrian Griffin after a road game against Detroit.
Griffin had been at the helm of Milwaukee for about half a year after being hired last summer.
After firing Griffin after 43 regular-season games, Milwaukee’s choice was Doc Rivers. Rivers is a veteran coach, having led Boston to a championship in 2008, but he’s also been a part of the 토토사이트 Clippers and Philadelphia’s championship-clinching failures since then.
Milwaukee‘s first six games under Rivers have been very unsettling. They went 1-5, including a whopping four losses in a five-game road trip out West. Considering that the back-to-back road trips and repeated one-day breaks didn’t give the squad much time to recover, the results were disappointing.
Returning home after a five-game West Coast road trip, Milwaukee found itself in a pinch after a 105-129 home loss to Minnesota on Dec. 9. However, wins in subsequent home games against Charlotte and Denver turned things around.
Milwaukee was without the likes of Yanis Adetokunbo, Damian Lillard, and Khris Middleton during the 1-5 stretch. But on Dec. 13 in Denver, the team returned to action with all but Khris Middleton (ankle injury) healthy for a 17-point win over the Nuggets, who are in the thick of the West race.
Most encouraging are the defense numbers. In their last two games, Milwaukee has allowed opponents to score 84 and 95 points, respectively. It’s hard to read too much into the 84 points against an underdog Charlotte team that just started playing with a new roster after the trade deadline. However, a 95-point win over Denver, who are in the thick of the West race, is certainly encouraging.
The most notable thing is the defense of the frontcourt. The frontcourt core of Yanis Adetokunbo, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis has been shining on defense. In fact, over the last two games, Milwaukee has allowed 36.0 points in the paint, ranking first in the league in that category.
The frontcourt defense of Damian Lillard-Malik Beasley is still shaky. But with the addition of trade deadline acquisition Patrick Beverley, a tough defender, to the rotation, the frontcourt energy level has been boosted.
Last 2 games paint zone points allowed
- Milwaukee: 36.0 ppg
- Minnesota: 40.0 ppg
- at New Orleans: 41.0 ppg
Fresh off their first back-to-back wins since Doc Rivers’ arrival with a sweep of Western Conference powerhouse Denver, Milwaukee will play the final game of a four-game homestand against Miami on Nov. 14 without a day off. They then wrap up the first half of the schedule with a trip to Memphis on Dec. 16.
The Heat will have another test on Thursday against Miami to see if they can continue their momentum.