PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points, Damian Lillard added 24 points and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the 76ers 119-98 on Sunday with Doc Rivers back in Philadelphia.
Rivers was released by Philadelphia at the end of last season. He coached the 76ers from 2020 to 2023, but they never made it past the second round of the playoffs, and Sunday was his 12th game since taking over in Milwaukee.
“It was great,” Rivers said of his return. “I had a good three years here, but I’m not talking about basketball, I’m talking about life. I enjoyed my stay here. I made friends for life. I’m a fan. The people were nice too. There were some funny comments. One guy said Larry David was looking for me to play golf. I thought that was pretty funny.”
Rivers was greeted with loud boos from the packed crowd during his introductions, but his team quickly pulled the crowd out of the game with a frenetic first quarter.
Lillard scored the first seven points for the Bucks, and Milwaukee built a 14-point lead and finished the quarter with 11 points.
“I thought we were consistent,” Lillard said. “We were going to get in the paint and make extra passes to find open guys and get some quality looks. To play a good offense, we were going to find quality shots and make a lot of You need to have a mix of things, and I thought that’s what we did.”
Antetokounmpo, who also had 12 rebounds and nine assists, capped off the first half on a high note with a driving layup, then completed a full-court pass to Brook Lopez for a dunk as the horn blared to give Milwaukee its biggest lead. 21 points. Philadelphia never got closer than 12 points in the second half.
Antetokounmpo was at the free throw line more times himself (12) than the entire 76ers team (11).
Rivers credited that to the team’s defense.
“We focused on defense,” Rivers said. “We’ve been great the last few games. When you have Giannis on your team, if you can get stops and get him in transition, Giannis in transition is a problem for everyone.”
Malik Beasley scored 20 points and Bobby Portis Jr. added 17 for Milwaukee, which won its second straight game after the All-Star break after going 3-7 in Rivers’ first 10 games.
“It’s all about communication,” Beasley said. “Today was one of the first times we all had a chance to communicate.[Previously]we were confused to see if we were going to stay with our guy or switch. .We did a great job of it today. ”
Tyrese Maxey scored 24 points and De’Anthony Melton added 16 for the 76ers, who have lost eight of 12 games since losing reigning MVP Joel Embiid to a left knee injury in January. .
“We have a lot of guards and a lack of big men,” Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said. “We’re trying to figure out some things. But we have to play a little bit better with this group, the ‘drive-and-kick’ style of basketball. I have to get organized. We need to be more organized offensively. ”
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Bucks: Host Charlotte on Tuesday.
76ers: Travel to Boston on Tuesday.
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