The all-bench unit for the Philadelphia 76ers has been one that has received a lot of criticism over the years. It has been a lineup that coach Doc Rivers has always turned to in order to get his stars some rest, but those lineups aren’t always great.
In Friday’s 137-125 win over the San Antonio Spurs to begin their three-game road trip, the all-bench unit was helpful. Led by 25 points from Tyrese Maxey and 14 from Shake Milton, they were able to give the team a boost after the starters looked a bit sluggish to begin the game.
“Both times,” Rivers told reporters after the win. “In the first half, I thought they stretched the lead, and then in the second half, they stretched the lead and then unfortunately, that last group, we had to bring back the stars which I absolutely hate.”
Rivers is referring to a group late that he put in with Philadelphia having a comfortable lead. Paul Reed and Danuel House Jr. had some struggles and Rivers had to re-insert Joel Embiid and James Harden to close the game out.
“Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) and I were actually talking about that at the end,” Rivers continued. “We were asking, what’s our number to bring guys back? We both said 12. In that area, but overall, it was a good win.”
It appears that the all-bench lineup isn’t going away soon. In Rivers’ defense, if Maxey and Milton are going to continue to play as they did on Friday, albeit against an inferior Spurs team, then why not keep going to that group?
“We like the all-bench unit when we can get away with it,” Rivers finished. “Then, typically, every once in a while, we’ll have one of the starters in, but that unit has been great. They’ve earned their minutes and we allow them to keep playing.”
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