MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee’s scheduled game against the Miami Heat on Thursday was pushed back an hour due to the Bucks’ difficulties arriving from snowy weather in New Orleans.
The NBA announced at 4:05 p.m. Central time — less than two hours before the game’s scheduled start — that it would begin at 7:30 p.m. rather than 6:30 p.m.
The Bucks had been stuck in New Orleans, where they had arrived Monday to prepare to face the Pelicans on Wednesday. That game got postponed after a historic winter storm Tuesday dumped about a foot of snow there, with many of the city’s roads remaining coated in ice a day later.
“We sat around the hotel basically since we got there, which was the problem,” Rivers said during his pregame availability. “We left a day early. We got there and couldn’t practice. Yesterday we couldn’t go to shootaround. So we haven’t touched the ball in a while. But we’re here, and I’m glad we’re playing the game.”
The Bucks’ plane landed in Milwaukee less than three hours before the new, later starting time. Rivers said the Bucks got to the arena about two hours before the game was expected to tip off.
Rivers said he’d watch players closely early in the game because they hadn’t been able to do any cardio for the last few days.
He said the Bucks had a coaches’ meeting Thursday morning. Coaches also showed players their individual matchups on the flight to Milwaukee but weren’t able to do any video work.
“I told them to think back to AAU,” Rivers said. “There were games like this. You’d play three games in a day. I said this is how that’s going to feel. No excuses and just be prepared is basically the message I gave them.”
The Heat didn’t have any weather issues and were in Milwaukee in time to participate in a Thursday morning shootaround.
“Thankfully we haven’t had to deal with the weather situation, but I think everybody’s glad we’re playing this game tonight,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It just gets a lot more complicated when you have to push it down the road.”
Rivers agreed that it was best to play the game Thursday, even under these circumstances. Rivers noted the Bucks already will be playing plenty of games on back-to-back days the second half of the season.
“We already have one game we have to make up,” Rivers said. “Putting two on that schedule would not be very wise. I was really pushing to get this game played.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
