The NBA Playoffs are all about matchups and the Philadelphia 76ers are in a specific matchup that can, at times, give them trouble with their quickness. The Washington Wizards are a team that likes to run, run, run led by Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal and that can be problematic.
Obviously, the Sixers have handled it very well as they have a 3-0 lead over the Wizards after a Game 3 win on Saturday, but coach Doc Rivers had had to make an adjustment to combat all of that.
On Saturday, Rivers turned to rookie Tyrese Maxey as his first guard off the bench rather than the veteran Shake Milton. Maxey is a better matchup when the Wizards go to their quicker guards in Raul Neto and Ish Smith, both former Sixers, and Rivers wanted to match up in a better way.
“They had Neto and Ish on the floor at the same time,” said Rivers. “We just needed the match speed with speed.”
While Milton has had a rough playoff series with Washington, it is mostly due to it just being a bad matchup for him. Philadelphia can have the third-year guard out of SMU ready to go in future playoff series. In this one, Maxey just makes more sense.
Philadelphia will look for the sweep on Monday in D.C.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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