Doc Rivers’s first game as a coach in Milwaukee was ruined by Nikola Jokic’s 14th triple-double of the season, which helped the Denver Nuggets beаt the Milwaukee Bucks 113-107 on Monday night.

Jamal Murray scored 35 points and helped Denver get ahead with an 8-0 run late in the game. Jokic ended with 25 points, 16 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Rivers used this game to get a feel for his “built-to-win-now” team. Adrian Griffin, the first-year coach of the Bucks, was fired after 43 games and a 30-13 record, and Rivers was hired to take over.

Rivers moved up and down the bench with his arms crossed, hands on his knees, and hands on his hips. He is now in his 25th season as an NBA head coach. He stooped, clapped, and talked with Joe Prunty, who was the acting coach before Rivers took over. He even got angry when Brook Lopez was called for a foul late in the game for a screen.

Rivers saw his new team lose an early 13-point lead, fall behind by as many as nine points, and then come back before Aaron Gordon blocked a Damian Lillard shot with 24.7 seconds left to end the comeback.

Rivers now has 1,097 wins, one more than Larry Brown for eighth-most in NBA history. The loss kept him there.

The Bucks started a five-game road trip with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring 29 points and grabbing 12 boards. The player known as “Greek Freak” played for almost 37 minutes, even though he was sick and his availability before the game was uncertain. Without him, it would have been the second game in a row that an MVP player didn’t play at Ball Arena. Joel Embiid, the current NBA MVP, didn’t play for Philadelphia on Saturday because his left knee hurt.

But Antetokounmpo put on a high-flying show for the sold-out crowd and called for a 10-second penalty on a free throw that got the crowd excited. Early that morning, he was named the NBA East player of the week.

Lopez scored 19 points, and five of Milwaukee’s 16 3-pointers were made by him. Lillard scored 18 points in the end.

Rivers said it would take a moment for him to get used to sitting on the bench while he slowly fits in with how the Bucks play. He wants them to keep going without thinking too much.

They already know how good they are, so he doesn’t have to tell them again. Antetokounmpo is the only player on the Bucks who is still with the team from the 2020-21 NBA title.

Rivers said, “They already know what the goal is.” “They all know that “We”—as a group—is the only way to reach that goal.”

Michael Malone, the coach of the Nuggets, said he felt bad for Griffin and his short time leading Milwaukee. “If you’re looking for security, don’t become a coach,” Malone lamented. He also said that Rivers would have the Bucks running at full speed in no time.

“No offense to his ability as a commentator, but it’s great to see him back on the sidelines doing what he does best,” Malone said. On Monday, he won his 400th game as coach of the Nuggets.