The Milwaukee Bucks made a change Tuesday to help their chase of the Boston Celtics, hiring Doc Rivers to replace Adrian Griffin as the team’s head coach, per NBA on TNT and CNN Sports.
Rivers had been viewed as the likely choice earlier in the day as the move comes to fruition hours later.
Most in-season hires come due to catastrophic shortcomings or major holes in the team. But as Rivers joins the Bucks, that’s not exactly the case. Milwaukee sits at 30-13, just 3 1/2 games back of the Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
With that said, the Bucks have had some struggles this season that could be worrisome in the bigger picture, particularly come playoff time. Milwaukee ranks in the bottom third of the NBA in defensive rating (116.8) in addition to opposing paint points (54.0 per game) and opposing second-chance points.
Milwaukee has all the star power in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton to win a second championship in four years. The Bucks have capable role players as well, giving Rivers plenty of talent to work with. Ultimately, Rivers has the task of getting a capable group back to its potential in a talented Eastern Conference.
After winning a championship with Boston in 2008, the Celtics are no strangers to seeing Rivers in pivotal spots, eliminating the 76ers with the 62-year-old at the helm in seven games in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals. Now, Rivers jumps into the playoff picture less than three months before the start of the postseason.
Given the landscape, the Celtics and Rivers’ Bucks could be on a collision course for a fourth playoff meeting in six seasons. For now, the teams have two more regular-season meetings on March 20 in Boston and April 9 in Milwaukee.
