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After the Milwaukee Bucks were hit with a harsh playoff reality check, head coach Doc Rivers thought the inverse of any concern, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“We will make the playoffs,” Rivers said when informed of this statistic after the game. “I’m not worried about that.”
The Bucks' 1-6 record doesn't have history in their favor. Since 1970, 150 NBA teams have started 1-6 or worse. Only 12 of those teams made the playoffs, with five of them having a losing record. They dropped six straight, including the Bucks' back-to-back losses against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While they also missed key pieces, it was a back-and-forth game. The Bucks even had the lead during the fourth quarter. Despite the loss, Rivers believes the team is heading in the right direction, regardless of what their record suggests.
“The team’s very positive. I think they’re upbeat,” Rivers said. “No one wants to lose. We have some tough games coming up, but one win at a time. We win three or four in a row and then the numbers say if you’re 5-6 after that, you have an 80 percent chance to make the playoffs, you know? So that’s where numbers are so silly sometimes, especially early in the year. And we don’t pay much attention to them.”
Can the Bucks make the playoffs, as Doc Rivers believes?
An important thing to note is that their key role players have been struggling. For example, Bobby Portis is averaging 12.4 points per game, his lowest number since his first season in Milwaukee. Not to mention, he's shooting a career-low 22.2% from three, and 47.6 percent from the field. Portis has been efficient and a consistent sixth-man-of-the-year candidate with his rebounding and scoring. Also, Portis is averaging a career-high 1.9 turnovers per game.
Damian Lillard understands both sides of the equation. Luckily, he's taking it one game at a time.
“Just because it’s a 1-6 start, it's ugly,” Lillard said. But when you look at the big picture it’s such a long season. It’s 75 games left. I’ve been part of teams that have won 16 straight, 14 straight. Sometimes you just get in a ditch. Sometimes it can happen in the middle of the season, it can happen toward the end of the season.
“I think because it’s happening at the beginning and we’ve got one win and six losses it just looks different. But I think because of who we have on our team – Giannis, Khris (Middleton), myself, Bobby (Portis), Brook (Lopez) – we’ve got an experienced, talented team. We can get a lot of things done.”
Regardless, the Bucks have a long way to climb if they hope to be back in the playoffs. They hope to turn the page and crank out wins consistently.
