JJ Redick rips Doc Rivers for committing to DeAndre Jordan after last night’s miserable 12 minutes
The Philadelphia 76ers had a miserable second half of basketball against the Miami Heat last night and lost game one of the series 106-92.
The Sixers clearly missed Joel Embiid last night as Doc Rivers opted to use four different centers throughout the game, starting DeAndre Jordan who was absolutely miserable.
Jordan finished the night playing 17 minutes, scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds. He was a -22 on the court and proved to be unplayable moving forward to anyone who has a pair of eyeballs.
However, after the game Doc Rivers continued to be is smug self after the game, saying that the 76ers are going to keep starting DeAndre Jordan “whether you like it or not because our guys believe in him.”
Doc Rivers on DeAndre Jordan after last night’s game
Originally tweeted by NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) on May 3, 2022.
No shot anyone actually believes in DJ outside of Doc Rivers. I refuse to believe everyone on the 76ers is as incompetent as the head coach but I digress.
It turns out 76ers fans were not the only ones watching the game last night and realizing that DeAndre Jordan has no business playing basketball at this point in his career.
JJ Redick on ESPN’s First Take this morning
“The adjustment is not to look for James to score more. They had a lot of success when they went small and they attacked. They couldn’t buy a three-point bucket. And they also had a lot of success when they went to that zone.”
“To me this is more about, let’s adjust the lineup a little bit. DeAndre Jordan, as much as I love him – a dear friend – at this point I don’t think he should be starting in a playoff game. Start Paul Reed, and then at times go small with Tobias Harris and Georges Niang. Spread ’em out. Give Harden space, give Maxey space, give Tobias Harris space, and shoot threes.”
Yeah, I mean that’s just incredibly obvious. So obvious, that I’m not even sure what to say about it so lets take a peek at some advanced stats for how DJ played last night.
DeAndre Jordan Not Playing: 31 minutes, Net Rating 11.61, Offensive Rating of 103.28.
DeAndre Jordan Playing: 17 minutes, Net Rating -68.75, Offensive Rating of 90.63.
Jesus Christ, Doc.
Redick is right and everyone knows it besides Doc Rivers. The 76ers can’t afford to run DeAndre Jordan or Paul Millsap in Game 2 if they want to split before heading back to Philadelphia.
The answer, although not an ideal answer, is Paul Reed and Charles Bassey, mixed in with a small ball lineup with Tobias Harris at center. Hopefully Rivers opens his eyes and sees the light.
Regardless, what we did learn last night is that the Miami Heat are a very beatable basketball team and if the Philadelphia 76ers could have gotten a few more shots to fall, game one could have easily been one. Now, we look towards game two on Wednesday night and hope to split before heading back to Philly on Friday night.
Mandatory Credit: ESPN
