DENVER — Even before Rivers took the sideline for his first game as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night in Denver, he was stressing the need for patience.

Rivers, taking over a team in the middle of the season for the first time in his 25-year coaching career, said it was “a challenge he wouldn’t wish on anyone.” Meanwhile, the Bucks are adjusting to a new voice after first-year coach Adrian Griffin was replaced by Rivers.

“It takes a minute,” Rivers said before Monday’s 113-107 loss to the Nuggets. “What I’m slowly trying to do is incorporate some of my stuff and simplify some of their stuff.

“One thing you don’t want to do and we’re very afraid of doing is paralyzing their brain, and now they’re thinking about that. So it’s going to take a while.”

The Denver Nuggets ruined Rivers’ Bucks debut with a loss, going 1-4 in his first career game with his new team, but the Bucks are still interested They were encouraged by one of their most inspired defensive efforts of the season.

They held the Nuggets, the league’s most efficient offense, to 113 points and forced two-time MVP Nikola Jokic to score 25 points on 25 shots, although he still had 16 rebounds and 12 A triple-double of assists. Jamal Murray scored 35 points.

But that’s an improvement from a Bucks team that ranks 24th in the league in defensive efficiency, leading Rivers to joke that “the secret is out” now that the Bucks have proven they can defend.

“I tell our guys, anyone who tells you you can’t defend is lying,” Rivers said after the game. “You proved that tonight. You played great tonight… Our half-court defense was outstanding. I thought tonight was an offensive failure. I didn’t think our offense was crisp.”

“Dahm and Giannis have played 40 games together in their lives, Clowney and Murray have played together — you know what? If you watch tonight’s game, they’re going to keep playing and our guys can’t keep playing. , that’s the difference.”

Damian Lillard scored 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points and 12 rebounds. Antetokounmpo was pleased with how the Bucks performed in their first game under Rivers but preached the need for patience in the learning process.

“He’s great,” Antetokounmpo said of Rivers. “Everybody has to be patient. It’s new – the way we play, the way we defend, it’s going to take a while to get used to. We’re slowly, slowly adjusting, changing some things. The coaching staff has to have the right Players have to be patient. Players have to be patient with the coaching staff, but I thought the first game was pretty good.”

The increased defensive intensity speaks directly to Antetokounmpo about how players will respond under Rivers.

“At the end of the day, the game plan is one thing, but our effort [has] Always has to be there,” he said. “We have very, very smart players on the team and sometimes when the game plan isn’t quite right, sometimes our efforts might not be there and that’s not good.

“We can’t just pick and choose. Like, in order for you to win, you have to do it all the time. Sometimes you’re going to lose games, but in order for you to win at a high level, you have to do it as a standard. Today. , I think we set the standard as a team.”

Rivers takes over the Bucks on a nine-day, five-game road trip, a chance to get familiar with his new team on the road. He expects longer than usual shooting sessions and perhaps more practice days to help players get up to speed on the adjustments he wants them to make.

The Bucks had 35 games left on their playoff schedule, and Rivers came into the job knowing that it wouldn’t all be resolved in one day. But the subtle adjustment of having a veteran leader at the helm has allowed Bucks players to embrace the process.

“I think it’s a very composed, calm feeling,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said of Rivers’ first day as coach. “There’s no question of too high or too low. I mean that in the best way possible. He handled it well. He did a great job of making sure everyone knew their responsibilities, what the defense did, what the offense did Nothing, and there isn’t any real problem.

“He did a great job making sure everyone was pretty much on the same page from the beginning.”