Bucks' supporting cast struggles to help Antetokounmpo in series-opening loss to Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered another trademark playoff performance Saturday.

The rest of his Milwaukee Bucks teammates were reeling. Again.

After revamping the roster at the trade deadline, getting a full season and offseason to learn the nuances of coach Doc Rivers and producing the league's top regular-season 3-point percentage, Game 1 looked like more of the same postseason struggles — and possibly a third straight first-round exit.

Antetokounmpo did the heavy lifting with 36 points and 12 rebounds, but no teammate scored more than 15 points. Kyle Kuzma, one of the key acquisitions in February, became the sixth player since 1974-75 to play at least 20 minutes and record no stats — the first in a decade — according to Sportradar.

Kuzma missed all five of his shots and both of his free throw attempts while recording no rebounds, no assists, no steals and no blocks. He did, however, draw two fouls in the 117-98 loss that put the Bucks in a 1-0 home in the best-of-seven first-round series.

“It’s hard to score when you don’t touch the ball,” Rivers said. "I mean, no offense, Kyle got two shots in the first half, both with two seconds in the shot clock. Kuzma can play, but we’ve got to involve him, and we’ve got to make sure we keep him involved.”

Kuzma's ugly stat line certainly stood out, but he was hardly the only one struggling Saturday. The four starters other than Antetokounmpo combined for 14 points and Taurean Prince, like Kuzma, also was shut out of the scoring column.

How bad was it?

The Bucks went 2 of 16 on 3-pointers in the first half and finished 9 of 37 after making 38.7% from beyond the arc through their first 82 games. And then, after cutting a 28-point deficit to 107-95 with 5:24 left in the game, it happened all over again. Milwaukee managed only one more basket — a meaningless 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.

The result: From the moment Indiana took a 10-8 lead, it never trailed and in the second half, the Bucks never got within single digits.

“We made a big run. We got it to I think 13, 12 or something like that, and it was a game," Kevin Porter Jr. said after scoring 12 points. "But we can’t allow it to get to that point. We’ve got to come out fast, and we didn’t do that today.”

Worse yet, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle didn't even think his team's defense was good enough, especially in the second half.

“Giannis got the to the basket way too much,” Carlisle said. “We're trying to build walls and he's still getting there. He's a great player and great players cause collateral problems, so it's not a surprise. But we've got to look at that and we fouled them a lot.”

Both teams now have two days to make the needed adjustments before Game 2 in Indianapolis on Tuesday night.

The good news for the Bucks is that help could be on the way.

Nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard has spent the last month recovering from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. He was cleared for basketball activity earlier this week and has ramped up his workouts in an effort to be on the court Tuesday night.

Lillard scored 31.3 points per game and Khris Middleton, who was traded to Washington for Kuzma, averaged 24.3 points in last year's first-round series, which Antetokounmpo missed with an injured calf. Indiana advanced with a 4-2 series win.

Lillard also averaged 18.3 points in this season's four previous matchups.

How much Lillard's return might help remains unclear, but after Saturday's sluggish start, getting him back certainly couldn't hurt.

“I feel like everybody's trying to do the right things, everybody has the right intentions,” Antetokounmpo said. “We've just got to be better having patience and just trusting one another.”

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Detroit Pistons' Tobias Harris (12) shoots between Milwaukee Bucks' Pete Nance (35) and Kyle Kuzma (18) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Indiana Pacers' Andrew Nembhard, center, heads to the basket past Milwaukee Bucks' Kyle Kuzma (18) and Brook Lopez, right, during the first half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) battles with Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner, right, during the second half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) heads to the basket as Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner (33) defends during the first half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner (33) heads to the basket as Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo defends during the second half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) dunks during the second half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game against the Indiana Pacers, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

BEND, Ore. (AP) — Dozens of homeless people who have been living in a national forest in central Oregon for years were being evicted Thursday by the U.S. Forest Service, as it closed the area for a wildfire prevention project that will involve removing smaller trees, clearing debris and setting controlled burns over thousands of acres.

The project has been on the books for years, and the decision to remove the encampment in the Deschutes National Forest comes two months after the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to increase timber production and forest management projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk.

Deschutes National Forest spokesperson Kaitlyn Webb said in an email that the closure order was “directly tied to the forest restoration work.” Homeless advocates, meanwhile, seized on the timing on Thursday as U.S. Forest Service officers blocked the access road.

“The fact that they are doing this with such vigor shortly after they announced that the forests would be opened up for logging I don’t think is a coincidence," said Jesse Rabinowitz, spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, and the service’s Pacific Northwest Region did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

“The closure does not target any specific user group and will restrict all access, including day use and overnight camping, while crews operate heavy machinery, conduct prescribed burns, and clean up hazardous materials,” Webb said. “It’s not safe for the public to be in the area while heavy machinery is operating, trees are being felled, mowing operations are active, and prescribed burning is occurring.”

Campers who had set up trailers, recreational vehicles and tents amidst the ponderosa pines in the forest scrambled in the darkness Wednesday night to pack up and get their engines working again. Authorities closed the two-lane road in the early hours of Thursday morning, and it wasn’t immediately clear how many people were left in the forest by the afternoon, though some were unable to leave.

The U.S. Forest Service has been working for years on plans to close part of the Deschutes National Forest near Bend for forest restoration and wildfire mitigation. But the number of people living in that part of the forest has grown, with many losing homes during the coronavirus pandemic due to job losses and high housing costs, Rabinowitz said.

President Donald Trump’s administration has acted to roll back environmental safeguards around future logging projects on more than half of U.S. national forests, under an emergency designation that cites dangers from wildfires.

Whether the administration's move will boost lumber supplies as Trump envisioned in an executive order he signed in March remains to be seen. Former President Joe Biden’s administration also sought more logging in public forests to combat fires, which have become more intense amid drier and hotter conditions linked to climate change, yet U.S. Forest Service timber sales stayed relatively flat under his tenure.

The Cabin Butte Vegetation Management Project, a wildfire mitigation treatment on some 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares), is prompting the closures in the Deschutes National Forest.

The goal of the work is to reduce wildfire risk and restore damaged habitats where development encroaches on natural areas near Bend, Deschutes National Forest officials said in a statement. Recreation sites and trails in that area will be closed through April next year.

Multiple U.S. Forest Service officials and vehicles were stationed at the Deschutes National Forest road closure on Thursday. A sign on the metal gate blocking the road said the temporary emergency closure will last at least one year.

Violators could face up to six months in jail, fines up to $5,000, or both.

On Wednesday night, Mandy Bryant, who said she had lived in the encampment for about three years, was cleaning up her site and trying to get a trailer to start so she could move it.

“You could feel the heaviness in the air and just the stress and depression that people are feeling,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re up there on the list of groups of people that society doesn’t really care for.”

Four people living in the encampment including Bryant, along with two homeless advocates, filed for a restraining order to stop the closure. The claim argued it would cause irreparable harm to more than 100 people who were living there, many of whom have disabilities.

The government responded in court filings that U.S. Forest Service staff in January began notifying homeless people living in the area of the upcoming closure. Original plans for the project were published in 2019 and were authorized by the U.S. Forest Service in 2023, the court filings said.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane denied the restraining order on Tuesday and issued a written opinion on Thursday.

“The public’s significant interest in restoring natural habitats, preventing catastrophic wildfires, and preserving the overall health of Deschutes National Forest is not outweighed by the interest of 150 or so individuals in residing on this particular plot of land," he wrote in his ruling.

Webb, the Deschutes National Forest spokesperson, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the government’s goal is “voluntary compliance,” but Forest Service officers and staff will patrol and “enforce the closure and ensure public safety.”

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Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.

Greg Bishop, bottom center, who lived in a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, walks along a dirt road to check on camp sites for residents who have not lefts the encampment on Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A U.S. Forest Service vehicle drives down a dirt road past newly placed rock barrier towards a trailer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Chris Daggett, who lived in a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, pushes a scooter belonging to another resident as he helps to remove items for fellow campers on Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A tow truck driver helps removing a trailer for a person staying at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Debris lies scattered around a trailer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Debris lies scattered around a trailer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A trucking and logging vehicle, at left, drives past trailers lining China Hat Road as leaves an area that was closed off in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Jessica Gamble, who started the nonprofit Home More Network in 2022, right, looks on after reading text messages she received when a road to a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest was closed on Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A person talks to a U.S. Forest Service official about getting through a road barrier to collect their belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Thursday, May 1, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Nick Campbell vapes at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A flashlight from Mandy Bryant's shines on chairs propped up by trees at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A tiara rests on a seat as a woman writes in a journal at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A string of lights hangs on a tree above a memorial at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Greg Bishop works to get an RV to start at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Mike Shelton works to attach a hitch to a vehicle as he loads up his belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Nick Campbell looks up while talking to a volunteer at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Greg Bishop works to get an RV to start at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Trailers and RVs are seen at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A woman looks up from writing in a notebook with the words "to be a princess" seen near the top of the page and a tiara next to her inside a trailer as her father works to get it to start, at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Chris Daggett works to get an RV to start so that it can be moved at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Mandy Bryant holds her dog as she talks with a neighbor at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Mike Shelton works to attach a hitch to a vehicle as he loads up his belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest Wednesday, April 30, 2025 near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Mandy Bryant walks to help Mike Shelton with his trailer as they load up their belongings at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A person walks to a tent at a homeless encampment in Deschutes National Forest, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, near Bend, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)