{"id":123121,"date":"2025-11-27T07:22:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T07:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=123121"},"modified":"2025-11-27T07:22:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T07:22:51","slug":"doc-rivers-stands-firm-bucks-head-coach-defends-controversial-choice-to-forgo-a-late-timeout-in-heat-loss-facing-scrutiny-from-fans-and-media-explaining-his-strategy-under-pressure-and-igniting-de","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=123121","title":{"rendered":"DOC RIVERS STANDS FIRM: Bucks head coach defends controversial choice to forgo a late timeout in Heat loss, facing scrutiny from fans and media, explaining his strategy under pressure, and igniting debate over what could have changed the outcome..ll"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Milwaukee<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers knew the second Myles Turner\u2019s game-tying 3 clanged off the rim, the timeout questions were coming.<\/p>\n

The Miami Heat closed out a 106-103 win on Wednesday, their sixth straight, after Tyler Herro torched Milwaukee for 29 points and seven assists, and Bam Adebayo added 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Bucks, who dropped to 8-11 with their sixth consecutive loss, got 26 points from Ryan Rollins and 24 from Turner to claw back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth via the ESPN Box Score.<\/p>\n

Down three in the final seconds, the Bucks pushed the ball instead of stopping play. Rivers let Rollins attack in transition, the ball swung to Turner on the wing, and the big man\u2019s contested triple with 5.7 seconds left came up short. No whistle, no drawn-up play, just live-ball chaos, exactly how Rivers wanted it.<\/p>\n

Afterward, Rivers did not flinch, per Eric Nehm on X, formerly Twitter. \u201cI loved it. Loved the call. Would do it again,\u201d Rivers told reporters, explaining that he did not want to let the Heat set their half-court defense after they had just started to wobble. \u201cInstead of letting them set their defense, we had them on their heels.\u201d<\/p>\n

On some level, the logic tracks. The Heat locked in all night, holding Milwaukee to 42 percent shooting and just 33 percent from deep while matching the Bucks on the glass, 47-47. Giving Erik Spoelstra a free timeout to scheme one last switch-heavy look for Turner and Rollins felt like asking for trouble.<\/p>\n

The Bucks again played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sat for a fourth straight game with a groin strain, and still nearly stole an NBA Cup road win behind role players hitting big shots.<\/p>\n

Rivers, though, sounded like a coach digging his heels in. He wants his team to learn to execute on the fly. If the Milwaukee Bucks ever start closing these kinds of games, Wednesday\u2019s no-timeout gamble might look less like stubbornness and more like the painful part of that process.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doc Rivers does not think he was at fault for not calling a timeout late in the 4th quarter as the Milwaulee Bucks fell to the Miami Heat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":123122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1261,968,328,45,911],"class_list":["post-123121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-doc-rivers","tag-miami-heat","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-nba","tag-nba-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nDOC RIVERS STANDS FIRM: Bucks head coach defends controversial choice to forgo a late timeout in Heat loss, facing scrutiny from fans and media, explaining his strategy under pressure, and igniting debate over what could have changed the outcome..ll - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=123121\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOC RIVERS STANDS FIRM: Bucks head coach defends controversial choice to forgo a late timeout in Heat loss, facing scrutiny from fans and media, explaining his strategy under pressure, and igniting debate over what could have changed the outcome..ll - 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