A playoff series is a game of adjustments and it is Milwaukee Bucks turn to do that after getting blown out in the first game by the Indiana Pacers. What will Doc Rivers pull?
His Pacers counterpart Rick Carlisle knows Game 2 won’t be a walk in the park and he wants is anticipating a hard game.
“Expect hard,” Carlisle said through The Athletic.
“Hard things are hard. The first game is hard. We got to expect hard. We’ve got to embrace hard. When you win Game 1 in the series, particularly as the home team, Game 2 is just always exponentially tougher. There’s a renewed level of force that they bring.”
One major change that can happen in Game 2, still at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, is the arrival of Damian Lillard.
The nine-time All-Star has not been playing since March in loss to the Golden State Warriors. First due to calf strain that grew into a dangerous blood clot.
He has been cleared of the injury and is now just working on the conditioning. The latest Bucks injury report labeled him as questionable for the game.
Milwaukee Bucks starting unit might not change
What changes will happen with the Bucks will only be unravelled once the tip off happens.
However, for now, fans can expect that not much will change on the starting unit based on the statement made by Rivers after the blowout loss.
“I don’t know, you look at their plus-minus, it’s pretty good. You look at the starters’ plus-minus, so it’s one game and we’ve had a week off, so no, I don’t. Sometimes you stick with your group,” he said when the plus/minus comparison between the starting players and the bench were brought up.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points in the game but his starters contributed just 14 points, zero from Kyle Kuzma and Taurean Prince.
The bench played better with three of them scoring in double digits.
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