Rivers named ASG coach after first win with Bucks

DALLAS — With his first win as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, Doc Rivers punched his ticket to the All-Star Game.

The Bucks’ 129-117 comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night clinched the honor for Rivers and his staff, who will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars against the West on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.

It’s not an honor that Rivers, who is 1-2 since being hired by Milwaukee on Jan. 26, claims he earned. He intends to give his All-Star ring and bonus to Adrian Griffin, who went 30-13 as the Bucks’ coach before being fired and replaced by Rivers, who left his job as an ESPN analyst. Milwaukee went 2-3 during Joe Prunty’s interim stint.

“That is ridiculously bad. It really is,” Rivers said of getting the All-Star nod after one win. “Well, Adrian’s going to get some money that’s for sure. And a ring. It’s one of these quirky things. I think there should be a rule somehow that someone else does it other than me.”

Saturday’s victory ensured that the 33-16 Bucks would have the East’s best record through games on Feb. 4 among teams with coaches eligible for the All-Star duties. The Boston Celtics have the East’s best record at 37-12, but Joe Mazzulla coached in the All-Star Game last year, making him ineligible this season.

So the distinction goes to Rivers after Milwaukee rallied from a 25-point deficit to defeat Dallas.

“He’s going to coach the game?” Milwaukee’s All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said, replying to a reporter’s question with bewilderment.

“That’s pretty funny,” said Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who had 30 points and eight assists in the win. “It definitely wasn’t a conversation in the locker room.”

Antetokounmpo, who had 48 points, 10 assists and 5 steals in the victory, pointed out that the Bucks assistant coaches were deserving of the honor.

“I’m definitely happy for them,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work that paid off.”

This will be the fourth All-Star appearance for Rivers as a coach, previously doing so in 2008, 2011 and 2021. He’s the fifth person to coach in the All-Star Game after taking over a team during the season, which happened most recently when Tyronn Lue replaced David Blatt with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2015-16 season.

“Maybe I’ll send my staff and I’ll go on vacation,” Rivers said. “I’m going to run that by Adam Silver. I think Adam’s a good man. I think he’ll understand.”