Bucks blow out Pelicans in final game before Doc Rivers takes over as head coach
In their final game before Doc Rivers takes over as their head coach, the Milwaukee Bucks beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 141-117, Saturday night at Fiserv Forum.
Rivers was introduced as the organization’s 18th head coach earlier in the afternoon after Adrian Griffin had been fired on Jan. 23, but Rivers won’t coach the team until Monday in Denver. Assistant coach Joe Prunty finished out a three-game stretch in an interim capacity by coaching the Bucks to their second win in three games under his command.
“I think we did a good job, coach Joe did a great job to be able to take the responsibility to coach us for these three games,” Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “He had everybody in a good place. Our film session was simple. Our practice was simple. Our walkthrough was simple. He gave us direction of what we were trying to do.”
Milwaukee improved to 32-14 and has won seven of nine. New Orleans dropped to 26-20.
“After a loss in a back-to-back, same thing, came in, gave us direction of what we’re trying to do. We moved the ball, ATOs was great," Antetokounmpo said. "I’ve been with coach Joe for five years. His ability to be able to, as I said, take this responsibility and be able to do it with grace, is unbelievable.
"I don’t know it’s crazy man how he’s never been a head coach in this league. It’s insane. But, I loved it. I think three games we’re 2-1. We did a good job.”
More: Establishing an identity and leveling up: Why Doc Rivers was the choice for the Bucks
The Bucks used hot three-point shooting through three quarters (up to 50% at one point) and a strong defensive effort in the third (24 points allowed) to blow the game open with a 112-87 lead after three. They led by as many as 29 points at one point.
"I thought the quality of the looks that we got probably led to how many we made out of 26," Lillard said of the 13 they had made at that point early. "We're a team with a lot of shooters and sometimes we depend on our ability to make threes instead of doing the things that generate quality threes. I think in a game like tonight we came out, our pace was really good, we got stops and we were able to get out and run and not play against a set defense.
"We had a lot more moments when we made the extra pass. We kind of just played for each other and we got so many shooters on our team and when we play that way and when we move the ball that way, we're going to get quality looks and we're going to make a high percentage of them more nights than not."
New Orleans coach Willie Green began pulling his starters with about eight minutes left in the game and removed Brandon Ingram (26 points) and Jonas Valančiūnas (13 points, 10 rebounds) with 6:48 to go and the Bucks up, 125-96.
The Bucks were led by Antetokounmpo’s 30 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes while Lillard added 26 points on 7 of 14 shooting in 28 minutes. Brook Lopez went 6-for-9 from behind the three-point line and scored 24 points for his first 20-point game since Jan. 1.
Bobby Portis scored 20 off the bench in 22 minutes before fouling out for Milwaukee. It was his first 20-point effort since Jan. 14.
Zion Williamson had 23 points for New Orleans.
Did you notice the Bucks rotation change?
In the first quarter Bobby Portis was the first big man sub off the bench at the 5:45 mark, but he did not replace Giannis Antetokounmpo as he has all season. Instead, Brook Lopez took a seat and Antetokounmpo remained on the court with fellow starters Damian Lillard, Jae Crowder and Malik Beasley. Antetokounmpo remained in the game even after a New Orleans timeout about a minute later. The Bucks’ MVP candidate did eventually come out, but it wasn’t until the 3:23 mark for Lopez. In his 8:48 of game play, Antetokounmpo went 3-for-4 for eight points and handed out three assists to help the Bucks take a 27-19 lead.
Antetokounmpo checked back in with 6:34 to go in the second quarter with the Bucks up 60-47.
Lillard and Lopez returned at the 4:32 mark, putting all five Bucks starters on the floor with Milwaukee ahead 63-57. They went on a 12-2 run together until Jae Crowder was subbed out with 33.1 seconds left.
The Bucks kept the same rotation with their two stars into the second half, with Antetokounmpo playing until 3:33 was left in the third. The Bucks had blown out the Pelicans by then, leading 101-76.
More: Why Doc Rivers was the choice for the Bucks
Khris Middleton held out for Bucks
The 32-year-old all-star was ruled out for the Pelicans game early in the afternoon on Saturday for right knee injury management. Middleton has only played in one set of back-to-back games this season, which were on Jan. 3-4 in Indiana and San Antonio. He played just 15 first half minutes against the Spurs.
Of the seven games Middleton has missed this year, six have been on one end of a back-to-back.
Milwaukee is 6-1 in games he has missed.
Middleton has averaged 30 minutes per game since Dec. 7 after playing his first 20 games under a minute restriction following offseason knee surgery. Over his last 22 games, he’s averaged 17.2 points and 5.8 assists per game.
Bucks hire new assistant coaches
Doc Rivers introduced two new assistant coaches Saturday afternoon in Dave Joerger and Rex Kalamian. Both have assisted Rivers in the past, Joerger in Philadelphia (2020-23) and Kalamain with the Los Angeles Clippers (2018-20).
Joerger, 49, was the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2013-16 and Sacramento Kings from 2016-19, compiling a 245-247 regular-season record and 9-13 postseason record. Rivers said he and Joerger had already dove into the Bucks offense.
Kalamian had been working as a scout in Brooklyn and most recently was an assistant coach in Detroit. He began coaching in the NBA in 1996 and is the head coach of Armenia’s men’s national team.
Rivers inherited seven assistant coaches from Adrian Griffin’s staff, and Rivers said changes will be made at some point. Most of those coaches were in the room during the press conference.
“The toughest part is that this is a human business and we have a lot of coaches who are here already, so you evaluate everybody. You do,” Rivers said. “You don’t come in with a set idea. I guess I’ll find some new friends and learn some stuff, too. I’m going to open this with an open idea. Obviously we’re going to make changes. We have to. Because I have to be comfortable. But at the end of the day you just evaluate.”
Bucks’ Troy Flanagan became American citizen at halftime
Troy Flanagan, the Bucks’ vice president of performance, was naturalized as an American citizen during a halftime ceremony. Flanagan joined the organization in April 2015 after serving as the director of sports science and director of high performance for the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, which included stints at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Flanagan holds a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. Flanagan is an Australian native and moved to the United States in 2007.
Flanagan was one of 21 candidates from 15 countries who were naturalized.
5 numbers
3 NBA players who voted Thanasis Antetokounmpo to start in the All-Star game. Unsurprisingly, 16,861 fans voted for “T.A.” to start, as he is a strong Milwaukee fan favorite.
1-7 and 13-22 How the Bucks started the game from behind the three-point line and how they finished the first half and began the third quarter. The 59% clip from 7:39 mark of the first quarter through the 11:30 mark of the third helped the Bucks build a 78-63 lead.
6-1 Bucks record in the second game of back-to-backs.
25-17 Joe Prunty’s record as an interim head coach in the regular season, spanning the end of the 2018 campaign in Milwaukee, a 2-0 mark last year in Atlanta, and 2-1 stint over the last week with the Bucks. He stepped back into the role after Adrian Griffin was fired on Jan. 23. Doc Rivers will coach his first game on Monday in Denver. Prunty also coached the Bucks in a seven-game first round playoff loss to Boston in 2017-18.
75 First half points by the Bucks, which was the third time they hit that total this season (Dec. 5 vs. New York and Jan. 11 vs. Boston). Their season high in a first half is 81, set against Detroit on Dec. 16.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks blow out Pelicans 141-117 before Doc Rivers takes over as coach
