"We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds" - Doc Rivers talks about what plagued Milwaukee versus Boston

A learning experience

Rivers said the Bucks shot themselves in the foot by committing too many errors, giving up offensive rebounds, and coming up with one empty possession after another.

“We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds tonight with turnovers, offensive rebounds, bad possessions. Then bad possessions defensively, switching when we shouldn’t switch, fouling late. But all those are great things for us to watch films and to learn and get better at. So, this is a really good learning opportunity for us is the way I look at it,” Rivers said.

Milwaukee committed 15 turnovers, while Boston only had nine.

“It was one of those games where they kept getting the lead; we kept fighting back,” Rivers said.

Capitalizing on the absence of Giannis Anteotkounmpo, who missed his second straight game to a sore hamstring, the Celtics led in each of the first three quarters and opened a 104-83 lead with 31 seconds gone by in the fourth quarter.

Boston’s lead was cut down to 116-114 on a basket by Bobby Portis Jr. with 32 seconds left. Portis missed the chance to cut the deficit further after he bungled a bonus free throw. Four straight free throws by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown sealed it for the Celtics.

Doc was happy with the effort

Despite the loss, Rivers seemed satisfied with the Bucks’ effort, especially when they refused to give up despite the humongous deficit in the final quarter.

“As far as that, you love that. We did keep fighting. We end up shooting the ball better than them tonight. I thought our zone was really effective, mixing back zone, man. It made them hesitate what they were running. That helped us,” said Rivers.

With the win, Boston now leads the four-game regular-season series, 2-1. Winning the series is crucial as the two could potentially meet in the playoffs.

The two squads will meet again for the culmination of the series at the Fiserv Forum on April 9th.