Damian Lillard had one job, and it was to take full charge of the team. In Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence, the star guard seemed to have done it to perfection. It would be a sin to call it ‘effortless’, as the 9x All-Star put up an all-around effort to take down the fully healthy Philadelphia 76ers. With the former MVP missing four games already, how did this massive shift take place in Lillard’s game? Well, that’s why we have coaches. After the game, Doc Rivers shared one word that spurred Lillard and changed the Wisconsin team’s fortune.

The 5th-seeded Milwaukee Bucks haven’t had a great run in recent times. In the last 10 games, the team has won only 4 games including tonight’s W over the Sixers. In these 10 games, Lillard has had a consistent run, dropping 25.3 ppg with 8.5 apg but the champion coach needed something more from him in today’s game.

The Bucks have also included fresh legs, Kyle Kuzma, ahead of the deadline replacing Khris Middleton, who was traded to the Wizards. Two games into his Bucks debut, the forward has turned into a valuable help for Damian Lillard in this mission. Speaking at the post-game presser after the 135-127 win, Doc Rivers opened on his crucial advice to the star guard. “I told Dame that he needs to be an aggressive scorer and an aggressive playmaker and that’s a hard thing to do and I thought he did that tonight,” said the 63-year-old.

Shooting above 50% from the field, Lillard recorded 43 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. The interesting part about his game was the guard tackled the traps better than he did all season long. Rivers further added, “I thought his downhill attacks to create other buckets were great, and that led him to his shooting.”  Following that he added a word of appreciation for the newcomer, saying, “I thought Kuz did the same thing.” Kuzma bagged 8 rebounds to go with 13 points in his outing against the Sixers. Now, let’s find out what the man of the hour had to say about the “Aggressive” mindset.

Damian Lillard hails Doc Rivers’ brilliance

“When he’s not out there, I’ve got to assert myself and play a game that’s very familiar to me,” said Lillard, after the victory, about playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo. So, Dame Time was prepared for the right from the beginning and Rivers just had to fine-tune it with his input.

So, after Rivers’ interaction with the reporters, Damian Lillard picked up the mic. One of the reporters asked if anyone inquired about Rivers’ input about “aggressive” play and the guard said, “Nobody did.” Then proceeded to talk about it. “He said it to me right after we did starting lineup, I’m usually the first person to walk up with him with the board before he gave us the first play and as soon as I walked up he was like you need to you know be aggressive scoring and making plays you need to lead us in points and assists.” Despite his aggressive playmaking style, Lillard managed a healthy assist-to-turnover ratio, notching up just four turnovers to go with a team-high 8 dimes. 

Most importantly, Rivers’ words weren’t a message to shoot the ball all the time, but a switch in mindset to take control of the game. Anyway, with Greek Freak not available until the All-Star break, can Lillard steady the Bucks‘ ship? Let us know in the comments.