Bucks News: Doc Rivers Blasts Officiating After Tough Loss to Suns

Doc Rivers was not happy with the officiating in the Bucks' game against the Suns.

Mar 22, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers yells during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks are fighting hard to get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They have been trying to catch the Indiana Pacers for that fourth spot.

Indiana now holds a two-game lead over the Bucks after Milwaukee fell to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Milwaukee is now 4-6 in their last ten games.

Milwaukee had a real shot to beat the Suns late in the game, but Phoenix was able to win by two points. Doc Rivers seems to think that the referees had something to do with it based on his post-game comments.

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Rivers was not pleased with the officiating in this game against the Suns. He made his feelings clear while talking to the media following the loss.

Doc Rivers, on the officiating: https://t.co/j3hhapuR7q pic.twitter.com/VNl1ljsqQ0

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) March 25, 2025

Rivers was mad that the officials made two incorrect calls in the fourth quarter, and he had to burn timeouts to talk about them. He was most mad about a foul that the Suns had on Brook Lopez that he clearly thought should have been an and-one.

While the officiating may not have been perfect, they weren't the ones to pin this loss on. The Bucks had plenty of other things that they could have fixed that would have given them the victory.

Milwaukee only shot 69 percent from the free-throw line. Had they made just three more free throws, they would have won this game and the officiating gripes wouldn't have mattered.

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Now that the Bucks are a couple of games behind the Pacers for the fourth spot, they need to focus on staying ahead of the Pistons. Detroit is just a half-game behind the Bucks for the fifth spot.

If the Bucks fall to sixth, they will either face the Knicks or the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. They would much rather face the Pacers. They thin they match up better with Indiana.

Rivers needs to get his team to play some better basketball down the stretch if they want to have some momentum going into the playoffs.

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