Doc Rivers Offers Confusing Thoughts on Bucks Blowout Loss to Pacers

The Milwaukee Bucks' series against the Indiana Pacers was arguably the most highly anticipated of the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, with two teams that seem to be on an equal level also having a fierce rivalry between each other.

However, that is not what fans saw.

Instead, the Pacers dominated in the first half, leading by 24 points and eventually winning 117-98. And this was despite Giannis Antetokounmpo giving an exceptional performance where he recorded 36 points, 12 total rebounds, and one assist.

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Looking at his stat line, it was that one assist that was the problem. No one else was seemingly able to make any shots. Outside of Giannis, the rest of the starting five only scored 14 points in the entire game, with Kyle Kuzma and Taurean Prince not scoring at all. Antetokounmpo did more than that in each half.

Needless to say, this wasn't the way the Bucks wanted to start the series. And head coach Doc Rivers is well aware of that.

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"We allowed too many middle drives, overall, through the game" Rivers said. "Not just [Andrew] Nembhard, but everybody. He's gonna make a couple twos and, honestly, we'll live with the twos."

"We shot 37 threes," Rivers continued. "But we were nine-for-37. But the numbers, they're a liar. Like, the 37 threes, 25 of them the passers were too late. And then, you know, you're open and then you're not open. Then we throw it. We didn't play with any type of offensive rhythm to give our shooters a chance. "

"The numbers... they're a liar"

Doc Rivers says Milwaukee was never able to find their rhythm on offense in Game 1 pic.twitter.com/IIhj02MkI3
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 19, 2025

This may seem confusing since the numbers seem to say that the Bucks couldn't make a shot, but there is sense to what Rivers is saying. It's clear that their players can get the shot off.

"Here's the good news," Rivers concluded. "We know they're open. Now we have to do the right thing."

Essentially, the Bucks (aside from Giannis) are going to have to match the Pacers', well, pace if they want to turn this series around. And that is no easy task.

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