Ads
Getty Former Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.
Heading into the final day of the NBA season, the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers were battling it out for playoff position. In the end, Boston finished second, Milwaukee third, and Philadelphia fourth. The Celtics and Sixers won while the Bucks fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Philadelphia and Milwaukee sat most of their top guys, which meant, for the Sixers, that they were without Joel Embiid and James Harden. With Embiid out, DeAndre Jordan was the starter, while big man Paul Reed played more than 20 minutes off the bench.
Reed dropped a season-high 25 points in the contest along with six rebounds, two assists and four steals. Meanwhile, Jordan had eight points and 11 rebounds as a member of the starting unit. After the game, a reporter asked Doc Rivers if he regretted not playing with Reed more during the season. The former Celtics head coach didn’t take the question kindly and responded like this:
Let me clear this up one more time for all of you who are struggling with this. When there’s a small lineup, and I’ll say it slow so we can all get it, we’ll play smaller ones with Paul. When there’s a big five, we play bigger with a DJ. Do we all have that now?
Jordan signed with the Sixers on March 3, but throughout his time in Philly, people have been clamoring for Reed to get more minutes. Rivers has evidently grown tired of being asked the same question over and over again.
Rivers doubles down on rotation explanation
That said, Rivers’s initial explanation did not satisfy the Philadelphia reporter, who continued his search for an explanation. He pressed Rivers for a different answer, highlighting the Sixers’ rotation in recent games. Once again, Rivers responded in the negative, giving a similar response:
Well, until the last three games look who we’ve been playing with. Just look at it. They’ve had five grand. Well, against the big five, because of the infractions, we like DJ. Do you understand that?
In the five games prior to the “last three games” mentioned by Rivers, the Sixers faced the Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks. In those games, the centers thrown by Philadelphia’s opponents were Isaiah Jackson (6’10), Moses Brown (7’2), Mason Plumlee (6’11), Isaiah Stewart (6’8) and Brook Lopez (7′). 0).
With Reed at 6’9 and Jordan at 6’11, Rivers is not wrong in his statement. However, many Sixers fans and members of the media continue to call for more minutes from Reed and less for Jordan and Paul Millsap.
Rivers sounds off, challenge reporter
And at this point in his postgame interview, Rivers was completely tired of the question. When the reporter tried to intervene one last time, Rivers cut him off and ended his tirade:
We have a whole coaching staff who, I suppose, know a little more. And they watch all the games. They watch every practice. We believe against the big five, DJ is good for us. We believe against little Paul. Can we play Paul with a big five? If you could. He can get into foul trouble early in a playoff game, which could change again. I have been here for a long time. Trust that.
The 76ers are set to take on the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. Toronto doesn’t have anyone on their roster taller than 6’9, and they mostly run lineups made up of long, lanky wings. It will be interesting to see who Rivers chooses, as it could lead to more postgame questioning.
Ads
–
