The Bucks got here again to drag off a 120-112 victory, outscoring the Pacers 56-29 within the remaining 19 minutes of the sport. Requested after the sport why his crew stored preventing, Antetokounmpo gave a one-word response, “Doc.” He then elaborated on Coach Rivers’ affect. “Doc,” Antetokounmpo mentioned. “Doc. He mentioned the identical factor he mentioned in Brooklyn. Gotta struggle by way of this one. Simply gotta struggle by way of this one. Carry on preventing by way of this one. They’re going to allow us to again within the sport. And like, when a coach says that and you then begin preventing and also you see it goes from 19 to fifteen. After which it goes to 11. After which it goes to seven. After which it goes … it simply retains supplying you with that dopamine hit. “And also you’re like, ‘OK, struggle a bit bit extra. Combat a bit bit extra.’ And abruptly, you search for, and it’s a tie sport. And now, once you’re there, you’re like, ‘We should always simply win the sport. We’re already right here. We should always simply play a bit bit extra arduous. Two, three extra minutes, play good crew basketball and win the sport.’ And that’s what we did.” -via New York Instances / January 1, 2025
