PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers switched things up on Tuesday when they took on the Milwaukee Bucks in an important matchup at home. With the backup center spot still a position influx, the Sixers rocked with Paul Millsap over DeAndre Jordan.
Jordan had been the main backup to Joel Embiid since his arrival, but in Tuesday’s 118-116 loss to the Bucks, coach Doc Rivers made the decision to go with Millsap.
“They go small a lot and I think he moves better,” said Rivers. “In the first half, he was really good. Second half, I thought he struggled.”
The only stat Millsap recorded was a steal in this one in 9:26 of playing time. He did a good job against Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first half, but in the second half, the Greek Freak went off for 13 straight points when Millsap entered the game and that turned it into Milwaukee’s favor.
“I thought Millsap looked good in the first half, in the second half he struggled,” said Rivers. “I didn’t like DJ. We almost went with Paul Reed. That’s who we went between, but in Milwaukee that was a tough matchup for Paul was Giannis.”
Antetokounmpo had a wide-open dunk to end the third quarter that irked Rivers the most.
“The play I hate the most is at the end of the third, we were supposed to match up, we didn’t match up,” he finished. “We were supposed to have a guard guarding Giannis and we know we were supposed to and we allowed that to happen.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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