In game three of the preseason, Doc Rivers deployed the starting five Bucks fans have been clamoring for: Kevin Porter Jr, AJ Green, Gary Trent Jr., Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Myles Turner.
The Milwaukee Bucks fanbase can now let out a collective sigh of relief. It's only a preseason game and no guarantee, but with real basketball just nine days away, Sunday supplied a strong indicator of the lineup the Bucks will trot out on opening night.
Rivers confirms commitment fans couldn't wait to see fulfilled
Giannis missed games one and two ramping back up from a case of COVID-19, so Sunday was the Bucks' first chance to roll out a lineup representative of the regular season group. The starting unit looked smooth out of the gate. The ball flowed around Giannis, creating a multitude of 3-point looks. Led by a 5-for-8 night from Turner, the starters alone got up 28 threes and made 11 of them. Overall, the Bucks went 20-of-48 from downtown.
Antetokounmpo looked as much himself as ever, bullying his way to the rim en route to a double-double. In the 127-121 win, every starting player finished with a plus-minus between +8 and +10. With everyone exceeding 20 minutes, it was more than a trivial first look at the optimum starting five on the court together.
Also worth noting is Kyle Kuzma's game off the bench: 19 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Using him as a reserve, a move that goes hand in hand with optimizing the starting lineup, may be the key to rehabilitating his worth as a role player.
Making too much of a preseason game would be silly, but it's hard not to be relieved that Rivers seems all-in on optimizing the lineup. All offsesaon, small forward posed by far the biggest question mark. Though the correct choice seemed obvious, no one was completely sure what Rivers would do. In a limited sample, lineups of Giannis and the three guards produced the team's highest net rating last year. Meanwhile, Prince and Kuzma were played off the floor in the playoffs.
Inserting Trent at the three over someone like Taurean Prince or Kuzma would require committing to a small-ball lineup. Fans know how, in the past, Rivers has favored veterans in more traditional roles and been slow to adjust. Yes, he finally benched Kuzma against the Pacers, but it took him until Game 5 to pull the plug. What felt like an obvious lineup switch was hardly settled.
Credit to Rivers, he has shown growth in his mindset as a coach. He offered promising signs at Summer League and at media day, confirming that Prince would come off the bench while hyping up Green and Trent as breakout candidates. Encouragingly, even in different preseason lineups, Green and Trent have started every time at the two and three spots.
The early returns offer nothing but positive takeaways. For all the concern over whether Rivers would put words into action, Milwaukee Bucks fans finally have their answer.