Against the Utah Jazz on Sunday night, the Milwaukee Bucks lost for the third time in their previous four games under Doc Rivers’ leadership. At one point, the Bucks were leading by 19 points and were coasting. But as the game went on, the youthful Jazz team outperformed Milwaukee, and in the fourth quarter, they completely destroyed the Bucks.

The fourth quarter saw the Jazz take a 40–13 lead, forcing a 123–108 comeback victory. Only once this season, towards the end of former head coach Adrian Griffin’s tenure, did the Bucks go from 3-1 to 1-3. It is not encouraging that Rivers is dealing with that problem from the first few games.

Under his leadership, the defensive problems facing the Bucks have gotten worse, and the offense hasn’t played nearly as well as it did when Griffin was there. It wasn’t easy either, as the Bucks’ lone victory on Saturday against the Dallas Mavericks while Rivers was sidelined. In order to win, the Bucks had to rally from a 25-point deficit.

After the Bucks’ most recent failure, NBA Twitter (now “X”) unleashed a barrage of criticism directed at the 2008 championship-winning coach due to his awkward start to the Doc Rivers era.

“Doc Rivers choke jobs on a weekly basis are back,” one fan posted.

Will Hardy outcoaches Doc Rivers as the Bucks collapse in the fourth quarter

The Milwaukee Bucks led by 19 points at the half and appeared to settle down. After the half, the Bucks were completely flat. Although they maintained their lead for a short while, the Jazz continued to make critical plays because of their effective adjustments.

Doc Rivers and his team suffered the price for their tardiness in energizing the situation. The Bucks lacked a counterpunch to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, which the Jazz successfully limited. Utah significantly aided the Bucks’ quest at a comeback by forcing their supporting group to make plays.

Playing the second night of a back-to-back, the Bucks were not as focused or as motivated after a point. For that reason, Rivers’ decision to not play Andre Jackson Jr. and MarJon Beauchamp was dubious.

The Jazz had a 62-43 rebounding advantage over the Bucks, which translated into 13-4 second-chance points. The nine-point swing was clearly expensive considering how Utah was able to re-enter the game.

With 33 and 27 points, respectively, from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis, Damian Lillard struggled with a five-for-18 performance. His total was just twelve points.

The Jazz were led by Lauri Markkanen (21 points), Collin Seton (19 points), and Keyonte George (19 points). The Bucks tallied 14 bench points to Utah’s 55.