Doc Rivers attributes Milwaukee’s crushing defeat to Miami on careless play on both sides of the court.
The Milwaukee Bucks lost badly against the undermanned Miami Heat on Tuesday night, 97-123. They played terrible defence and even worse offence.
Coach Doc Rivers bemoaned the Bucks’ careless play on both sides of the court, acknowledging that a Heat team lacking a few key players completely outworked them. Even though Miami was missing Josh Richardson, Terry Rozier, and Jimmy Butler, they were still able to completely control the game.
Rivers, who finished his tenure as a Bucks coach at 3-6, remarked, “They were quicker on everything on both ends.”Miami played with the defence of Milwaukee.
The Bucks’ defence faltered against the Heat, who scored 40 points in the first quarter alone, after playing strong defence in their previous two games, which saw them keep their opponents under 100 points. For the third time this season, Milwaukee’s offence was kept below 100 points, which made things much worse.
“These are the nights you have; you detest them, but they happen. Even though our defence appeared to be in disarray, I believed that our offence was far worse this evening. We were shooting 51 percent at halftime, so I thought it started early,” said Rivers.Miami had a comfortable 67-52 point lead at the half. By the end of the third quarter, the lead had grown to 22 and, at one point, to 31.
Prioritising defence over offence
Rivers bemoaned the Bucks’ inability to move the ball effectively and their preference for attacking over defending.
“I felt that our offence was playing atrociously, and that was where our defence started,” the analyst said. Not as much as it has been moving, the ball didn’t move much tonight, according to Rivers.
The Bucks should prioritise their defence more, the seasoned coach said, reasoning that if they do well on defence, they will be able to generate more attacking energy.
Our squad currently derives its personality, in my opinion, from the offensive line, and we don’t want that. Doc stated, “We aim to acquire our identity from the defence by playing hard and taking defensive plays.The Bucks seemed like they were starting to get things together after winning two consecutive games, but they are still far from playing at their best after the defeat to Miami.
