Doc Rivers Expected to Make Debut as Bucks Coach on Monday vs. Nuggets, per Report

The Bucks will have played three games before Rivers takes the sideline.

The Milwaukee Bucks play the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, the team’s third game since firing coach Adrian Griffin and replacing him with Doc Rivers. 

How long will it be before Rivers takes the head coach chair on the Bucks’ sideline? Only one more game. The veteran coach will make his debut with Milwaukee on Monday when the Bucks play the Denver Nuggets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Doc Rivers will make his debut as Milwaukee Bucks head coach as the team begins a five-game road trip :: Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports

Monday’s game at Denver will be the first of a five-game road trip for the Bucks, which includes stops at Portland, Dallas, Utah and Phoenix. That looks like Rivers jumping right into the deep end with his new team. First game against the defending NBA champions? 

However, perhaps Rivers and the Bucks did not want to debut at home. Also, he might have more of his team’s attention when he and the players are together on the road. 

Rivers, who was formally introduced on Saturday, takes over as Bucks coach after beginning the season working as an analyst with ESPN. He was dismissed by the Philadelphia 76ers after finishing his third season with 54 wins and losing in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics.

Milwaukee holds the second-best record in the East (and third-best in the NBA) at 31–14 going into Saturday’s matchup. However, concerns over poor defense and losing the support of the players led to Griffin’s dismissal just 43 games into his first season after taking over for Mike Budenholzer.