Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Rivers remains mum on Game 4 lineup changes
With no more full practices and just a morning shootaround to make the choice, Doc Rivers has not decided who to start Monday in place of Danny Green.
At least that was his official stance Sunday when asked if he has settled on a lineup.
“I’ve pretty much,” he said after practice from Atlanta. “But no. That would be my answer.”
Rivers has been nothing if not secretive in his first season as the Sixers’ head coach, typically refusing to release an otherwise predictable starting lineup until minutes before a game. So by declining to announce a replacement for Green for Game 4 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series in Atlanta Monday at 7:30, he remained in character.
Green was injured four minutes into a 127-111 victory over the Hawks Friday and did not return. A Saturday MRI confirmed that the veteran wing had a strained right calf, with the Sixers announcing that he would be re-evaluated in two weeks.
That certainly left him out of Game 4 and Game 5 Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center and perhaps even for the Eastern Conference Finals. For that, Rivers’ selection of a replacement is critical to the Sixers’ championship hopes.
Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, George Hill and Shake Milton are the likely candidates, and each would supply a different strength. Pressed Sunday for what he was looking for as a Green replacement, Rivers read the play and reacted.
“That’s clever,” he said. “Because with an answer, you would be able to figure it out. So I am looking for a 76er.”
Realizing the extent of his secrecy, Rivers acknowledged the importance of his choice.
“Being honest, without joking, it is a decision we’re going to have to make,” he said. “What’s more important, the extra defender or the extra floor spacing? Danny was so good in a lot of cases that you got a little bit of both. So we have to make that decision.”
A forensic analysis of that statement would suggest that Thybulle, who would be that extra defender, would be at the front of Rivers’ mind. But he also stressed that Korkmaz, the better shooter, has improved his defense.
“He’s just playing hard,” Rivers said. “I think he gets me better now, knowing that I don’t like ‘football’ players. I mean, I love the game of football, but I don’t like it played in basketball, where you don’t get to play on offense and then go rest.
“Two-way players are very important and Furk is doing all the little things that are required of him.
We’re not asking him to be Ben Simmons, but we are asking him to be a better version of himself defensively. And I think he is doing that.”
Green was still in Philadelphia receiving treatment Sunday, but for many reasons, Rivers wants him with the team, even if he is not able to play.
“We’re going to bring him right back,” the coach said. “We want him around. It is very important to have him around our guys. He’s been through every possible playoff situation and he is such a great voice for us.
“When everything else is helter-skelter, Danny’s heart rate is flat. Now we don’t have that on the floor. This one hurt us, no doubt.”
If Korkmaz, who made 11 starts in the regular season, is appointed to replace Green, he’ll accept the challenge.
“We just have to step up,” he said. “I just need to step up. And I need to step up. If I need to do that, I will be ready.”
Not only is Thybulle willing to replace Green in the lineup, he will try to replenish whatever he can of the veteran’s lost locker room presence.
“When you lose a vocal guy, one of the main voices that you have on either end of the court, it’s not something that one person can do,” the second-year guard said. “It’s up to everybody.”
• • • One of the reasons Hill missed so much in-season time recovering from a thumb injury was because he opted for a more complicated yet presumably more lasting surgery.
He still says, however, that he is having mild issues.
“It’s getting better,” he said. “But there’s not a lot of movement in it.”
Hill has settled in as a backup guard but could win more time with the starters in the absence of Green.
“I am just staying positive,” he said. “I am staying focused. I’ve always believed that if you stay positive, things will turn. I am waiting for an opportunity. But I will just chip away and do the best I can.”
No longer than one quarter into the series, the Sixers knew they would have a challenge defending Trae Young.
Through three games, they are passing the test.
After scoring 25 points in the first half of Game 1, Young was limited to 12 in the second. He shot 6-for-16 in Game 2, and his 28 Game 3 points were manageable.
The leading cause for the defensive improvement has been Ben Simmons’ length. But Joel Embiid also made some adjustments to help, stepping up when necessary for an assignment on Young, but also remaining alert for his alley-oop passes to John Collins or Clint Capela.
“I have to worry about the roller and to make sure they don’t get easy shots,” he said. “It’s hard because the floater is his favorite shot. But we have done a good job on him.”
• • • For the second consecutive game, the Sixers are road favorites, up this time from 1.5 to three points even without Green.