Will Doc Rivers debut as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night against the Nuggets?

The Milwaukee Bucks might be coming into tonight as the second best team in the Eastern Conference, but that wasn’t enough to keep Adrian Griffin in as head coach in his first year on the sidelines as Fiserv Forum. The rookie coach was let go with a record of 30-13, and soon after Doc Rivers was appointed as the new man on the sidelines in Milwaukee.

Since the firing the Bucks have played three games, going 2-1 under interim coach Joe Prunty. Tonight Rivers is set to make his debut against the defending NBA Champions in a primetime match up from Denver.

Most recently Rivers was in Philadelphia coaching Joel Embiid and the 76ers, but was let go after another playoff let down last year. He was working as a consultant for Griffin in his first year in Milwaukee, but after a three months the decision was made to axe the rookie and bring in a veteran on a team that was built to win now.

Rivers knows what it is to win an NBA Championship. He lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy with the Boston Celtics in the 2007/2008 season. He had a cast of All-Stars that included Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Since then he has only reached one Conference Finals, which came four seasons later. Since then he coached the LA Clippers and the Philaldelphia 76ers, but has yet to return to the NBA Finals.

The hope in Milwaukee is that Doc comes in and injects a winning mentality on a team already stacked with stars. Good news is, the Bucks are already a good team. If Rivers can come in and figure out how to get the best of both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, then the rest of the league could be in trouble.