The Milwaukee Bucks fell 108-81 to the Boston Celtics on Monday night at Fiserv Forum, and head coach Doc Rivers pointed directly to possessions and pace as the difference.
“That was the game,” Rivers said when pointed to Boston taking 21 more shots than his team. “I didn’t think either team played great offensively. They shot 43% and we shot 36%. I did love all our looks early in the game offensively. Just none of them went in. But they shot until they made it. You’re just not going to win games.”
Boston attempted 95 field goals to Milwaukee’s 74 and turned that volume into control, using a 24-5 run to flip a one-point deficit into an 18-point lead.
“Give them credit,” Rivers said. “They were faster to the ball the entire night.”
The Bucks have now lost three straight, all by at least 23 points, and sit at 26-34 in the Eastern Conference.
“I don’t care about the points. I just care about how we’re playing,” Rivers said. “We were playing great and we’ve kind of lost our way and I think it’s on both ends. I think offensively we had a great rhythm, and we’ve done it in spurts in the last three games, but we haven’t been able to sustain it.”
Milwaukee has failed to reach 100 points in several recent losses.
“Every game we get stagnant,” Rivers said. “Some nights the ball didn’t go in. Last night we didn’t play right for a long stretch and then we missed wide open shot after wide open shot. Tonight I thought give their defense credit. They fought through screens. They blew up a lot of plays. I didn’t think we stayed committed to the way we wanted to play and we lost our way.”
The night also marked the return of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes after missing time with a right calf strain.
“I thought it was really good the first stretch,” Rivers said. “The second half I thought we were great to come out. I think we cut it to nine. Then I thought Derrick White just took the game over for them for that one stretch. But I thought he was fine.”
Rivers acknowledged that building continuity remains a work in progress.
“We had a great rhythm until the last two games,” he said. “I still would rather find that rhythm again with Giannis because I think we can do more things.”
On lineup decisions, Rivers confirmed that Kyle Kuzma did not play by choice.
“Just coach’s decision with Kuz,” he said. “I love what the young kid did. We got to give him as many minutes as he can while we’re trying to win games. Where I was the most proud of him was defensively. I thought he was the best guy on Pritchard. I thought he did a hell of a job in the minutes that he had to guard on Pritchard.”
Rivers also addressed Antetokounmpo’s minutes restriction.
“I thought it was good,” he said. “We’re getting that butt kicked so I thought it was easier. I couldn’t imagine in that fourth quarter if it was a one-point game with six minutes to play. That would have been a disaster.”
Milwaukee hosts Atlanta next, searching for the offensive rhythm its coach says has slipped away.
