DETROIT – Top figures on the Milwaukee Bucks insist there was no panic or rush to call the fire department after a dire, alarm-worthy 2-8 start.
Well, at least two of them say so.
“Like, no. Zero,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday night. “Our panic meter and everyone around here said zero and that’s where it’s always been.”
“Frustration, but not panic,” Bucks guard Damian Lillard said. “We had a good camp. They all arrived in good shape. We were ready and it just didn’t click right away. “There was frustration but no concern.”
The most important man in the Bucks organization, the reason the two decorated men reside in Wisconsin and not elsewhere, has a unique view on the matter.
“People panicked. I know they did,” Giannis Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports with a big smile that somehow belies the seriousness of the Bucks’ situation a few weeks ago. “That’s what I’m saying, people panicked. Me? Prepare your back, lift a little more weight, pull down and engage your lats. Tie your shoes and let’s go. “We are here now.”
“Here” advances to the NBA Cup knockout round with a convincing 128-107 victory over the previously undefeated Detroit Pistons in the Cup. Here are two games above .500 for the first time this season.
There’s steady ground here, quieting the noise, finding reliability among some role players and shooting 3-pointers at the most accurate rate over the last three weeks. The Bucks don’t have the volume of the Celtics, but they are closer than one would expect. (The Celtics have won three more per game than the Bucks during this 9-1 Bucks stretch.)
They have burst into this place, one game away from reaching Las Vegas for the second year in a row, relying on what makes sense, guided by the maturity of their leaders. On Tuesday night, they arrived in Detroit knowing it was probably the most important game this franchise had played in the last five years.
For the Pistons, it was a chance to become relevant after years of losses and blatant detours. For the Bucks, the goal is still June, but it’s a chance to reintroduce themselves, not only as a former champion worthy of respect, but as a reinvented team ready to embark on a long, steady climb.
“They put a tournament in front of us and we want to win it, and we said that from the beginning,” Rivers said.
As expected by anyone with a sense of realism, the Bucks attacked early and gave the Pistons no life. At one point, the Bucks had a 71-69-74 shooting split in the third quarter while leading by 26 points, with Taurean Prince, Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green shooting at will (14 three-pointers combined).
It was Lillard who was the vocal leader and Antetokounmpo prevailed with an efficient performance, impressive but not forceful.
“Lady, lady, lady, again. Give it to me again,” Antetokounmpo said in the postgame media meeting. “I heard it several times in the third quarter: ‘This is where we assert ourselves. This is where we keep the equipment. Stay locked up.’ When your leader and the guy who has the ball most of the time and keeps setting the tone and keeps telling us to play the right way, you have to follow his example.”
Lillard scored 12 of his 27 points in the first quarter, hitting five 3-pointers, making his 18 in his last three games. That makes it easy to follow.
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“We struggle to find answers, like ‘what do we have to do?’ We needed to compete harder collectively, we needed to be more defensive and trust in what we were doing,” Lillard said. “Play more together, give ourselves at certain moments so that our offense has more quality possessions. And now we are seeing the success of it.”
It happened because Rivers has deployed Green and Andre Jackson Jr. while awaiting the season debut of Khris Middleton, who underwent double ankle surgery this offseason. Green is a deadly shooter (48 percent from 3 on 92 attempts), while Jackson is more defensive-minded, although Rivers wants him to use his elastic athleticism more on the offensive end.
But their short- and long-term success depends on the chemistry and, more importantly, the health of the two cornerstones, Antetokounmpo and Lillard. Middleton will certainly be useful, but the Bucks are expected to be deliberate in ensuring he’s ready for the long haul.
“It takes time,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports. “And we had a lot of success (in the regular season) last year. You know, people don’t want to talk about it. We were two seeds all year, due to injuries. We had injuries. “We had a lot of things to do and we still managed to have a very good season.”
Antetokounmpo’s aforementioned comments suggest he’s following Lillard. The fantasy of the two involved in the same action has finally come true, with Antetokounmpo as the handler and Lillard reversing the pick-and-roll, emerging as a shooter.
“But I think, as far as him and me, it just took time,” Lillard said. “Now our communication is different. Our understanding of each other is different, you know, working in partnership and the situations are different, and that’s normal, you know, it takes time.”
Antetokounmpo had a dunk on his 10 field goals, where he hit his first nine. But many of them came from the middle range. Comfortable jumpers that saved his worn-out body from the wear and tear that has prevented him from being at full strength in the playoffs: he missed the entire first-round series against Indiana and played in only three of the Bucks’ five games in their shocking loss in the first round against Miami in 2023.
He said he made 39 mid-range jumpers last season in 73 games and has already surpassed that number, making 40 in 16 games.
“I’m changing my game,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. You take a lot of hits and now, like my body today, I feel very good. “I feel like they haven’t touched me.”