Subscribe
Follow Us
The Milwaukee Bucks are out of contention for the 2025 NBA championship after suffering a stunning 119-118 loss in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night.
The early exit from the playoffs was not exactly a surprising outcome for the Bucks after they went down 3-1 in the series. However, what was shocking was how Milwaukee collapsed in overtime of Game 5.
That painful meltdown led to loud calls from fans on social media for the Bucks to fire head coach Doc Rivers, who added yet another frustrating playoff result to his resume.
“Fire doc Rivers into the sun but like I said two things can be true at the same time,” a fan shared.
“FIRE DOC RIVERS…….. NOWWWWWW🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬,” demanded another angry social media user.
From a different X (formerly Twitter) user: “Blame Doc Rivers to be a part of another meltdown like that he has a history of that and it happens again Fire Him and thank you Gianni’s for everything u gave us but the organization failed you.”
That sentiment was echoed by another fan: “3 words that’s all. Fire. Doc. Rivers!”
“Even if Giannis stays, how do you not fire Doc Rivers after that. Every single timeout the Pacers scored 5 points right away while bucks looked confused,” chimed in another.
In overtime, the Bucks held a six-point lead following a 3-pointer by Gary Trent Jr. with 1:46 remaining on the clock. They also had a seven-point lead with 40 seconds left, but Milwaukee squandered all that, with the Pacers turning on the heat down the stretch. Andrew Nembhard cut the Pacers' deficit down to four with a jumper.
Tyrese Haliburton made it a two-point game after a layup following a brutal turnover by Milwaukee. Haliburton was also fouled during that play and capitalized on it by making a free throw to put Indiana within just a point of the Bucks. Another turnover by Trent led to Haliburton's go-ahead layup with 1.1 seconds remaining. Milwaukee had one more shot to win the game, but Trent's desperate heave as time expired couldn't find the basket.
The Bucks, who hired Rivers in the middle of the 2023-24 NBA season, have now been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in two years in a row.
