Even when Milwaukee opened the season by losing eight of its first 10 games, Bucks coach Doc Rivers knew it was only a matter of time before his team returned to form.
Sure enough, the Bucks have won four of their last five games heading into an NBA Cup matchup against the visiting Indiana Pacers on Friday.
While Milwaukee is trending upward, Indiana has dropped four of its last five games. The Pacers shot 5 of 22 (22.7 percent) from 3-point range in a 130-113 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
Indiana will look to bounce back against the Bucks and star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 41 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a 122-106 home win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
Brook Lopez was among several players who struggled during the team’s dismal start, but the 7-foot-1 center is averaging 19 points on 55.4 percent shooting over his last five games.
“We know the team that we are,” Lopez said. “We’ve known the team that we are all season long, we just had to prove it by winning games. It’s gotten better and better. Obviously, the last few, we’re happy with winning, they were close ones but we put in a lot of work, we’re doing great.”
The Bucks looked like a championship contender late in Wednesday’s contest, when they closed the game on an 18-4 run. After the victory, Rivers reflected on his team’s rough start to the season.
“I felt good about the team, I just didn’t feel good about our record, to be honest,” Rivers said. “I still feel that way — I don’t feel good about our record yet — but I do feel good about this team. I feel really good about this team.”
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle isn’t quite as pleased with his team, and he suggested changes could be coming following another disappointing loss on Wednesday.
“We’re not playing well. That’s obvious,” Carlisle said. “Our connectedness is not where it needs to be. Our collective spirit is not where it needs to be. I’m going to look very closely at the film tonight. The coaching staff is. We have to come up with answers.”
The Pacers desperately need more production from All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was held to four points on 1-of-7 shooting against Houston, including 1 of 5 from 3-point range.
Haliburton is averaging 12.6 points while shooting 30.3 percent from the field and 30.8 percent (12 of 39) from 3-point range over his last five games.
One bright spot in Wednesday’s loss was the play of guard Quenton Jackson, who scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting in his first career start.
Jackson also had three assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block in 27 minutes.
“Quenton Jackson is an example of where we need everybody’s spirit to be,” Carlisle said. “The guy is flying all over the place, playing at a ridiculously high level of intensity and unselfishness and totally surrendering to the team, you know? For us, we just have to work at adopting that on a full-time basis and really being there for each other.”