Bucks HC Doc Rivers Considering Major Changes After Falling 0-2 to Pacers

Trailing the Indiana Pacers 0-2 in their ongoing first round playoff series, the Eastern Conference's No. 5-seeded Milwaukee Bucks appear to be in trouble — even as the series shifts home to Fiserv Forum for Games 3 and 4.

One key issue is that the Bucks have gotten off to poor starts in both games.

With nine-time All-Star Milwaukee point guard Damian Lillard sidelined for Game 1 as he rehabbed from a monthlong blood clot absence, head coach Doc Rivers started former two-way player Ryan Rollins over Kevin Porter Jr. as Lillard' replacement — despite Porter being clearly the higher-upside talent.

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Rivers otherwise retained his standard starters: shooting guard Taurean Prince, small forward Kyle Kuzma, All-Star power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and center Brook Lopez.

Lillard was reinserted into Rivers' first five for Game 2, but it didn't seem to help much.

According to Eric Nehm of The Athletic, that Game 1 starting unit was outscored by 15 points in its 17 minutes together, while the Pacers outscored the Lillard group in Game 2 by nine points across 16 minutes.

The Bucks have allowed the Pacers to play with a whole lot of confidence.

"They believe they have guys that can beat our guys off the dribble, so we have to do a better job." - Doc Rivers

On the Bucks' point-of-attack struggles, at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/UCjLtyiYip
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 23, 2025

Rivers hinted at making possible changes to his lineups for Game 3. Whether that extends to his starting group — particularly Kuzma and Lopez, who have been deeply underwhelming — remains to be seen.

“We’ve gotten off to two poor starts, and we’ve got to make an adjustment there, for sure,” Rivers said. “We’ll just see. We have time. We have 48 hours. I’m not gonna tell you what I’m doing right now because I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out, I’m very confident about this series. Very.”

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Antetokounmpo also levied some criticism at the output of the starting units, per Nehm.

“We don’t want to put ourselves in a hole early in the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think we’ve done it in two games. We also did it in the third quarter. It’s hard to play from behind. We just gotta be smarter the way we play, be more urgent when we start the game; hopefully we can be the one to set the tone and not them.”

Game 3 tomorrow at home. pic.twitter.com/jgCyWeB2ux
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 24, 2025

Game 3 is slated for 7 p.m. CT in Milwaukee. Time will tell if Rivers ultimately makes major moves.

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