DENVER – Two of basketball’s greatest players and most successful teams in recent years went head-to-head Monday night at Ball Arena, and they didn’t disappoint in a 113-107 Denver Nuggets victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Denver’s Nikola Jokić (two regular season MVPs and one NBA Finals MVP each) headlined the matchup, but the game was a close, back-and-forth affair that could easily be called a championship preview.

And, it was Doc Rivers' first game as head coach of the Bucks. He assumed the role Friday after Adrian Griffin was fired on Jan. 23.

Box score: Nuggets 113, Bucks 107

“Yeah, I’m happy we’re going,” Rivers said. “I know for a while it’s going to be tough, especially offensive calls. I had to turn to Joe (Prunty) and DJ (Bakker) a lot because me and (Dave Joerger), what’s that play where Bobby (Portis moves); it’s going to take a minute. I mean, I’ve watched our offensive 50 times over the last two days, yet it’s still just going to take time to have the right rhythm, to make the right calls. We scored a lot out of ATOs – that was my stuff – but I’d rather score off what we run because they know the second and third options of those.”

Unfortunately for Milwaukee (32-15) – which was playing for the first time with Doc Rivers as head coach – Denver (33-15) made a handful of more plays in the final minutes to seal it, from clutch Jamal Murray jumpers to an Aaron Gordon block of a Damian Lillard layup late.

Strong team defense made Antetokounmpo and Jokić work for what they got offensively, and the final moments of the game were determined by the fact the Bucks began to foul defensively (six in a five-minute stretch) and then couldn’t make enough shots after taking a 90-88 lead with 8:19 to go.

Two Brook Lopez three-pointers and an Antetokounmpo triple were the only field goal attempts to find the bottom of the net for Milwaukee from that point on.

“Just one of those nights where we couldn’t find it," Khris Middleton said. "It happens. Wish it doesn’t happen in games like this against great teams, but unfortunately it does sometimes.”

Lopez added: “I think as tough as they were those are positive because they show much better we can be and where we can continue to improve and get to know each other more and more. A lot of this stuff is going to be happening on the fly so those are positives – we can get better at those points.”

But, the Bucks turned in a vintage defensive effort to remain connected until the final seconds.

“I thought guys fought," Middleton said. "We helped out whenever there was a mismatch, we were able kick guys out. But then for the most part I think our team defense was great. They’re a great team with cutters, find the open man for the three, Jokić does a great job of keeping everybody involved, I think for the most part we stayed to bodies. Had a couple mistakes but they’re a hard to team to guard. To hold them to low 100s, I thought that was great. Our defense helped us when our offense was looking to get going.”

Denver’s defense was just as solid, limiting Lillard to 18 points on 5 of 13 shooting and Malik Beasley to five on 2 of 9 shooting.

The Bucks did a good job on Jokić, even though he finished with a 25-point, 16-rebound, 12-assist triple-double. With Lopez taking the brunt of the responsibility, followed by Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis and assorted double-teams, Jokić was held to 10 of 25 shooting and five free throw attempts.

Antetokounmpo couldn’t find many creases in the Nuggets defense, scoring 29 points on 11 of 19 shooting. He had 12 rebounds and four assists.

Jamal Murray shakes loose for big night

Milwaukee has struggled against opposing team’s star guards all season long and Monday was no different as Denver’s Jamal Murray scored a game-high 35 points on 13 of 22 shooting – including 14 in the decisive fourth quarter. Murray was 4-for-5 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line in 10 minutes of action, and consistently delivered key baskets to keep the Bucks at arm’s length.

He is the 23rd guard to score at least 30 points against the Bucks this season.

More: Establishing an identity and leveling up: Why Doc Rivers was the choice for the Bucks

Benches have subtle impact for both teams

Bobby Portis didn’t make his first basket until the 9-minute-39-second mark of the third quarter after he missed his first nine attempts. Cameron Payne hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter as well. Theirs were just the third and fourth field goals the Bucks’ four-man bench unit had made to that point, but they got the Bucks back in the game from a nine-point deficit.

But the second group was just 5 of 20 overall and 5 of 13 from behind the three-point line for 22 points, with Portis leading the way with nine points and 12 rebounds. But for new head coach Doc Rivers, their impact was felt in other ways.

Payne rotated into the game in the first quarter for the first time since the opening weeks of the season in new rotations, and Rivers had him pick up full court to disrupt the pace of the Nuggets. Portis was tasked with defending Jokić at times while also continuing to fill passing lanes. Pat Connaughton had a block on Jokić when he helped as a second defender, and the group had eight combined assists.

"I thought the first half the second group got crushed, and then in the second half our second group crushed theirs," Rivers said. "We talked about it at halftime. Cam Payne, he's not done this before, but we told him you're picking the ball up full court. I thought that changed the game for us. It really did. Now, he's exhausted. And this may be the worst place to tell someone you have to pick the ball up full court."

Denver’s four-man bench combined for 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting, and the group also combined for eight assists. The Nuggets' secondary group had a plus-37 point differential for the night, offsetting a minus-7 differential for their starters.

Did you notice?

In the second quarter Lillard ran a two-man game with Portis and as Lillard began his drive down the lane off Portis’ screen, he waved for Portis to follow him to the basket. It initially appeared as if Lillard might dump the ball off to a diving Portis for a lay-in, but Portis’ movement attracted some help and left Pat Connaughton wide open in the corner. At the last moment, an airborne Lillard zipped the pass to Connaughton, who knocked down the three-pointer. It tied the game at 30 with 10:37 to go in the first half.

5 numbers

• 3 Khris Middleton’s rank in franchise history for minutes played and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s rank for steals. Middleton 22,067 passed Hall of Famer Sidney Moncrief (22,054) against Denver while Antetokounmpo passed Moncrief against New Orleans on Jan. 27. Middleton should pass Hall of Famer Bob Dandridge (22,094) in the near future. Antetokounmpo now has 876 and trails only Paul Pressey (894) and Quinn Buckner (1,042).

• 10-Second violation called on Antetokounmpo with the Bucks down 108-102 with 2:09 to play. He missed the second. It was the third time this season he’s been whistled for that infraction.

• 13 Bucks turnovers, resulting in 15 Nuggets points. It was the difference in the game late, as the Bucks only had two turnovers in the first half.Middleton: I think for the most part we were trying to make the right play. They were in the right position to make those steals or got hands or sped us a little bit faster than we want. I think for the most part with those turnovers we were trying to make the right play, the right pass.

• 30-Point difference in paint scoring in favor of the Nuggets, which scored 56. Milwaukee had 26.

• 400 Career victories for Denver coach Michael Malone with the win.

Giannis Antetokounmpo named Eastern Conference player of the week

For the second time this season and 23rd time in his career, Antetokounmpo was named the Eastern Conference player of the week for the games played Jan. 22-28. The Bucks went 3-1 and he nearly averaged a triple-double with 29.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 8.3 rebounds. He also notched 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks fall 113-107 to Nuggets in Doc Rivers' debut as head coach