Doc Rivers wins first game with the Bucks as Milwaukee rallies to beat Mavericks, 129-117

DALLAS – The Milwaukee Bucks won for the first time under new head coach Doc Rivers on Saturday at the American Airlines Center and they did it in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 25-point first half deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks, 129-117.

"I think no one panicked," Rivers said of the comeback. "I think that was big for our team. I didn't panic, nobody panicked. Just kind of hung in there."

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 48 points on 20 of 28 shooting and handed out 10 assists while Damian Lillard scored 30 on 10 of 11 shooting – including a dagger three-pointer falling away into the Bucks bench from the corner to make it 126-114 with just over two minutes left.

"I was just trying to be aggressive," Antetokounmpo said of his night. "There's game that it's not open for me and it's hard for me but there's games that I can make some shots. It was one of those games."

Khris Middleton added 13 points and eight assists while Bobby Portis added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Milwaukee improved to 33-16 and Dallas fell to 26-22. Luka Dončić scored 40 points and had 11 assists for Dallas. Maxi Kleber had 21 and Josh Green had 20. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 18 off the bench.

First half reversal key for Bucks

Can an entire half be a turning point? Milwaukee could not have had a worse start on Saturday night, allowing 44 first quarter points on 61.9% Dallas shooting. The Mavericks were also 9-for-14 from behind the three-point line and looked to be in total control in taking a 44-20 first quarter lead.

"They threw the first punch and we weren't prepared as we should've been," Bucks guard Malik Beasley said.

Damian Lillard said Dallas is a team that can a surprise a defense with how quickly -- and from where -- they can take and make threes and they took advantage of the space the Bucks were giving them in the opening quarter. He added that Bucks' offense also contributed to that with a 9-for-27 start.

But the table was nearly totally flipped in the second quarter, as the Bucks “won” the quarter 40-21 to essentially reset the game at the break, trailing 65-60.

BOX SCORE: Bucks 129, Mavericks 117

"But we're a great team and we've got great composure and we came back and fought," Beasley said. "Got our defense into the game. They came out sprinting and we came out on defense and go our rhythm back."

"As soon as we started to, I think, execute a little bit better and settle down we got in their space and started to take some of their easy looks away," Lillard added. "It started to show."

The Bucks used a 15-0 run to end the second quarter to truly climb back into the game.

There was a moment, too, in which the run was given some accelerant on the part of Dončić. Even though he had played until deep into the second quarter before a personal foul was called on him (3:17 to go in the half) it bothered him immensely, and it appeared his focus was diverted.

At the time, Dallas led 60-42 and was in complete control of the game. But Dončić began looking for contact on the offensive end and demonstrated – and spoke about – his displeasure at the lack of whistles. And as the Bucks were starting to heat up, Dončić committed a transition take foul on Antetokounmpo out of frustration with 29.3 seconds left and was immediately assessed a technical foul after that. The two free throws made by Lillard made it 65-54, and the Bucks were on the move.

So while the Mavericks offense stagnated, the Bucks' took off. Milwaukee only missed five shots in the frame (15-for-20, 75%) and hit 5 of 9 three-pointers. Antetokounmpo and Lillard combined for 23 points.

"We was able to get better looks, we weren't playing against a set defense because we weren't taking the ball out of the net every time," Lillard said. "We was able to get it off the rim and push it at them. I thought that was when the game changed."

More: Bucks coach Doc Rivers will be the head coach of the Eastern Conference all-star team

Bucks spring traps on Luka Dončić in second half to stretch lead

Before the game, Doc Rivers said all you can hope to do with great offensive players is make then work for everything, but in the first half the only thing that slowed Mavericks star Luka Dončić down in the first 20 minutes or so was a tweak to his right ankle that caused him to miss about three minutes of the first quarter. He scored 14 points and handed out four assists in the first as the Mavericks took a 44-20 lead.

He ended the half with 26 points, and Rivers said he thought about throwing a trap at the Dončić to try and slow him down -- but his team was cutting deeply into that deficit and he elected to wait until the second half.

"It's hard to make adjustments once you get past halftime," Rivers said. "Once we cut it to 12 in the second quarter I thought let's wait, let's hold it. I thought it was good for us."

So in the second half the Bucks did indeed turn up the pressure on the Dallas playmaker and they began trapping him in the half court. While Dončić is a willing passer -- and he didn't force up shots between multiple defenders against the Bucks -- where and when the Bucks trapped him allowed the defense to reposition behind the double-team and force tough shots for his teammates.

"I thought it was a great decision to throw it out there and slow him down a little bit," Lillard said. "Put the ball in some other guys hands instead of Luka and make them make decisions and make them beat you. And we got back into it like that."

He was just 2-for-4 for four points in the third quarter with three assists. But it was the Bucks defense dictating how he moved the ball, and when. It helped the Bucks totally erase the 25-point first half deficit and take a small lead going into the fourth quarter. He took just three more shots in the fourth quarter, making two.

The Bucks, who held their first practice under Rivers on Friday, were able to execute a game plan talked about just a day later.

"That was definitely one of the first times in my career where we put something in one day and it's been executed to an exact T the next day," Beasley said. "That shows how great Doc is and it shows how great our players are in understanding it and doing it."

Luka Dončić calls play by Giannis Antetokounmpo 'dirty'

“That’s a dirty play, man.” -- Luka Dončić, while facing the officials and the Bucks bench as a play was being reviewed that showed Giannis Antetokounmpo kicking Dončić in the chest. While the play was being reviewed, Antetokounmpo came over to Dončić and the two hugged it out briefly.

The play occurred with 23 seconds left in the first half when Antetokounmpo drove baseline and went airborne under the basket. As he slung the ball out to AJ Green in the corner, his right foot hit Dončić in the chest. The play was reviewed and ultimately ruled incidental contact. The three-pointer counted, which cut the Dallas lead to 65-57.

5 numbers

• 2:50 Time left in the third quarter when Damian Lillard missed his first shot. It was the only shot he missed as he went 10-for-11 from the floor overall and 5-for-5 from behind the three-point line.Rivers: Just patience. Took the shots. He passed when he should pass. He shot when he should shoot the ball. I loved how he played.

• 3 First quarter fouls on Bucks forward Jae Crowder in just over seven minutes. He also received a technical foul after picking up his third. He played 14 more minutes and didn't get whistled for another.Rivers: I thought a lot of guys were frustrated. Jae, rightly so. They came out and told him at halftime they pushed him and you were right. I would say OK, then does he get his tech back? I thought Khris even thought he got fouled a couple times. We talked about that at halftime is composure. Hey guys, listen, things aren't going your way, but we have a whole half just hang in there. I thought our guys did that.

• 16-2 Bucks record when Antetokounmpo and Lillard score at least 25 points each in the same game. Their losses were on Christmas Day at New York and Wednesday in Portland.

• 18 Games Antetokounmpo has scored 30 or more points while shooting at least 60% from the field. He led the NBA in such games last year with 19, which was also a career high.

• 1,098 Career regular-seasons wins for Doc Rivers, tying Larry Brown for No. 8 in NBA history.

Brook Lopez ruled out for personal reasons

Bucks center Brook Lopez was a late scratch Saturday for personal reasons. He had attended the team’s shootaround. Lopez’s wife, Hailee, had posted on her Instagram that her due date was this week.

Before the game Bucks head coach Doc Rivers joked that he just took the job, so he and his staff were figuring out how to handle Lopez's absence. The 35-year-old Lopez had played in all 48 games for the Bucks this season. Bobby Portis is the only other player to appear in every game.

Rivers elected to start Robin Lopez, who had appeared in 13 games prior to Saturday, all in a reserve role. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis also played the "five" position over the final 44 minutes of the game.

"Obviously Brook is a big part of our team, definitely on defense and he's the biggest guy out there. When you're protector is no in the game you feel a type of way. But we had an opportunity for Robin to play a little bit and Jae (Crowder) to play more and me and 'BP' played more together. We figured it out.

"(Dallas) had great bigs but they (didn't) have a traditional big. (Dwight) Powell and (Maxi) Kleber, we're all a similar size. (Sunday in Utah) is a different case. Tomorrow they have bigs. So, we'll figure it out. And they also have to figure it out because we'll probably play small ball."

Robin Lopez's last start was on April 6, 2023, for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored eight points on 4 of 4 shooting against the Magic in about 19 minutes of action. Against Dallas, Lopez won the opening tip, had a basket, and left the game for good after four minutes of action.

"They kind of gave me a heads up that it was gonna happen so it wasn't too shocking," he said. "They came out pushing the pace, they were very hot and we knew as long as we stuck with it and got a little more aggressive they most likely they weren't going to shoot 90% or 80% the rest of the game from three."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Giannis and Lillard combine for 78; Rivers wins first game with Bucks