DETROIT – Milwaukee Bucks key figures insist there was no panic, no rush to call the fire department after a horrendous, alarming 2-8 start.
At least two of them say so.
“Like, no. Zero,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday night. “Our panic meter and everybody around 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 came in shape. We were ready and it just didn’t click right away. There was frustration, but there was no worry.”
The most important man in the Bucks organization, the reason two decorated men are based in Wisconsin and not elsewhere, has a unique perspective.
“People panicked. I know they did,” Giannis Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports with a big smile that somewhat belied the gravity of where the Bucks were a few weeks ago. “That’s what I’m saying, people panicked. Me? Brace your back , lift a little more weight, lower the bar, run the bar. Let’s go now.”
“Here” advances to the elimination round of the NBA Cup with a convincing 128-107 win over the previously undefeated Detroit Pistons in the Cup. Here are two games over .500 for the first time this season.
Here’s to steady ground, quieting the noise, finding reliability among some players, and shooting 3-pointers at the most accurate rate in three weeks. The Bucks aren’t at the level of the Celtics, but they’re closer than one might expect. (The Celtics made three more per game than the Bucks during that 9-1 Bucks stretch.)
They stormed into this spot, one game away from making it to Las Vegas for the second year in a row, leaning on what makes sense, led by the maturity of their leaders. They walked into Detroit on Tuesday night knowing it was probably the biggest game the franchise had played in five years.
For the Pistons, it was a chance at relevance after years of shameless losing and misdirection. June is still the goal for the Bucks, but it’s a chance to reintroduce themselves — not just as a former champion worthy of respect, but as a revamped team poised for a long, steady climb.
“They put the tournament in front of us and we want to win it and we said that at the beginning,” Rivers said.
To the surprise of no one with a sense of realism, the Bucks pounced early and gave the Pistons no life. At one point, the Bucks were shooting 71-69-74 in the third quarter while leading by 26 points — with Taurean Prince, Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green at will (14 combined 3-pointers).
It was Lillard who was the vocal leader, and Antetokounmpo came through with an efficient, impressive but not flashy performance.
“Lady, lady, lady again.” Lady, again,” Antetokounmpo said in the postgame media scrum. “I heard him say a few times in the third quarter, ‘We’re making a push here. This is where we put the teams off. Stay locked up. When you have a leader and a 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 lead.”
Lillard scored 12 of his 27 points in the first quarter, hitting five 3-pointers — for a total of 18 in his last three games. This makes it easier to follow.
“We struggled to find answers, like ‘what do we have to do?’ We needed to compete harder as a team, we needed to be more defensive and believe in what we were doing,” Lillard said. “To play more together, to give up in certain moments so that our offense has better possession of the ball. And now we’re seeing success from that.”
This happened because Rivers deployed Green and Andre Jackson Jr. while waiting for the season debut of Khris Middleton, who had double ankle surgery this offseason. Green is a dead-eye shooter (48 percent from 3 on 92 attempts), while Jackson is more defensive, though Rivers wants him to use his flexible athleticism more on offense.
But their short-term and long-term success hinges on chemistry — and more importantly, the health of two cornerstones, Antetokounmpo and Lillard. Middleton will certainly be instrumental, but one expects the Bucks to be thoughtful in making sure he’s ready for the long haul.
“It takes time,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports. “We had a lot of success (in the regular season) last year. You know, people don’t want to talk about it. There were two of us deployed all year, injuries. We had injuries. We had a lot going on and still managed to have a really good season.
Antetokounmpo’s comments above suggest he’s watching Lillard. The fantasy of two involved in the same action finally came true with Antetokounmpo as the handler and Lillard flipping the pick-and-roll and popping up as the shooter.
“But I think as far as me and him, you know, it just took,” Lillard said. “Now our communication is different. Our mutual understanding is different, you know, working in partnership and situations are different, and that’s normal, you know, it takes time.”
Antetokounmpo had one incredible dunk in his 10 field goals, making his first nine. But so many of them came from the middle band. Comfortable jumps that saved his worn-out body from the wear and tear that kept him from being at full strength for the playoffs — he missed the entire first-round series against Indiana and played in just three of the Bucks’ five games in their shocking first-round loss to Miami in 2023.
He said he made 39 mid-range jumpers in 73 games last season, surpassing that number by hitting 40 in 16 games.
“I’m changing my game,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. You endure many battles and now, like my body today, I feel great today. I feel like no one has touched me.”