Doc Rivers will coach in the NBA All-Star Game after his first win with the Bucks
Boston has the best record in the East two weeks before the All-Star Game, but Joe Mazzulla is ineligible after coaching the game last year. So the Bucks and their second-best record get the nod.
DALLAS — Giannis Antetokounmpo looked up in slight amazement when told Doc Rivers had just clinched coaching in the All-Star Game.
Seems the reaction had more to do with Rivers being the Milwaukee star’s coach for exactly three games than the 25-point rally that secured the bid for Rivers and the Bucks’ staff.
Antetokounmpo scored 48 points and the Bucks overcame the big first-half deficit for their first victory under Rivers, beating the Dallas Mavericks, 129-117, on Saturday night.
“He’s going to coach the game?” a wide-eyed Antetokounmpo said after going 20 of 28 from the field with 10 of Milwaukee’s 34 assists.
Rivers, who lost his first two games after the midseason firing of first-year coach Adrian Griffin, was slightly less than amused about leading the Eastern Conference All-Stars on Feb. 18.
Boston has the best record in the East two weeks before the game, but Joe Mazzulla is ineligible after coaching the game last year. So the Bucks and their second-best record get the nod.
“It’s ridiculously bad. It really is,” said Rivers, who was fired by the 76ers last spring. “Well, Adrian’s going to get some money, that’s for sure. And a ring. It’s one of these quirky things. I think there should be a rule somehow that someone else does it, other than me. Maybe I’ll send my staff, and I’ll go on vacation.”
Damian Lillard scored 30 points on 10-of-11 shooting, making all five three-pointers, in the second-biggest comeback victory this season for Milwaukee, which trailed Portland by 26 in a November victory.
Luka Doncic had 40 points and 11 assists for the Mavericks, who had their biggest blown lead in a loss this season. The Mavericks will visit the Sixers on Monday night.
With Kyrie Irving out for a sixth consecutive game with a sprained thumb, Doncic went to the locker room briefly in the first quarter after getting his right ankle tangled with Antetokounmpo in a battle for a loose ball.
The five-time All-Star returned to help finish a 44-20 first quarter for Dallas, which led 49-24 early in the second when Antetokounmpo hit a three.