Doc Rivers Addresses Sixers’ Bench Struggles vs. Knicks on Sunday

Coming off of an impressive performance on Friday, the Sixers' bench unit struggled to follow up in New York on Sunday.

Coming off of an impressive game from the second unit against the San Antonio Spurs, the Philadelphia 76ers hoped their bench could find similar success in a tougher matchup against a playoff-contending New York Knicks squad.

The starters set a solid tone early in the matchup. Through the first quarter of action, the Sixers knocked down over 60 percent of their shots from the field and hit on four of their seven threes. They outscored the Knicks 35-24 in the first quarter of action. 

Although the Sixers got a decent showing from the starting unit to begin the game, the reserves struggled in their early minutes. Tyrese Maxey was the only Sixers reserve to register points in the first quarter of action, as he scored on both of his field goal attempts. 

In the second quarter, only the backup center Paul Reed scored points, as the entire unit went 1-6 from the field. By the end of the first half, the Sixers led 53-51. However, their bench unit was outscored 15-6. 

It was clear early on in the game that the Sixers might struggle to rely on their second unit, but Doc Rivers certainly didn’t want to abandon the lineup after one bad half of basketball.

“We’ve been good at that. Just because one half doesn’t work, you don’t vacate the unit,” said Rivers after the game. “That’s what guys do who lose a lot.”

In the second half, Tyrese Maxey was the only reserve to register over ten minutes of action. Shake Milton, Georges Niang, Matisse Thybulle, Montrezl Harrell, and Reed all played fewer than six minutes. In the second half, they were outscored once again 22-10. 

Based on what Rivers saw, what caused the struggles?

“I thought our second unit came in and struggled by the way they were playing,” Rivers explained. “That’s the second time that happened. It happened in Orlando, and both times, we were scoring too easy, and the second unit comes in and thinks it’s an offensive game, and they didn’t see the reason the first group got the lead was by the defense. The moment they got on the floor, Randle drove from the three-point line to the basket in back-to-back plays there was nobody there. They kind of told you where we were gonna go defensively with our group. In the second half, I thought our group got great shots. They just didn’t make any at that point. The first half, I just thought they didn’t pass to each other.”

While fingers will get pointed at the bench unit since their struggles contributed to Philly’s inability to hold onto its 21-point lead early on, Rivers noted that the final result is on everybody, as the Knicks took advantage of the Sixers’ overall struggles.

“[The bench] didn’t play well tonight, but honestly, I don’t think that’s why we lost the game,” Rivers finished. “The game isn’t explained by plus-minus sometimes, it’s more than that. Starters came in, and we still had the lead. I thought we were just not emotionally strong tonight. Mentally, I thought they were the mentally tougher team, and they deserved to win.”

After leading by 21 points in the first half, the Sixers allowed the Knicks to turn the tables late in the game. In the end, New York came out on top with a 108-97 victory.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.