Getty Image / John Fisher
When the Milwaukee Bucks fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin on January 23rd, the team was 30-13, a top-five record in the NBA. It seemed puzzling at the time, considering the team was playing pretty well, even if they were a little rough around the edges sometimes on defense.
They brought in the much-maligned Doc Rivers, who was serving as a consultant for the franchise, to replace Adrian Griffin. The same Doc Rivers who was fired for squandering championship windows with the Clippers and the 76ers in the last decade was the guy they thought could win them another NBA title.
Yes, it’s still the regular season. But, those title hopes look completely dashed. The Milwaukee Bucks blew a double-digit halftime lead at home to the New York Knicks, getting outscored by 23 in the second half to lose 122-109.
There’s not a lot of shame in losing to a pretty good Knicks team, especially on a night where Jalen Brunson (43 points) plays really well. But, it’s their fourth-straight loss, and the others have been to some terrible teams.
The other three losses in the skid were to the Wizards, Grizzlies and Raptors, three of the worst teams in the league. It’s not like Milwaukee isn’t healthy, either. They have their preferred starting five all healthy right now. Frankly, they are playing really poor basketball.
Since the move to install Doc Rivers, the team is now 15-17 across a sizable sample size. Yes, they do still remain in second place in the Eastern Conference heading into the final week of the season. But, they’re now just one game ahead of the Knicks and the Orlando Magic, 1.5 ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and 2.5 in front of the Pacers.
A poor final week to the season could see them drop to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and lose home-court advantage in the first round. At this point, they have to be regretting firing Adrian Griffin for a guy in Doc Rivers who has not made a team better in quite some time.