Sixers' Doc Rivers Paid Tribute to John Chaney With Game Plan vs. Pacers

Doc Rivers took a page out of John Chaney's book on Sunday night.

All hope seemed lost for the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night. As the Sixers trailed double-digits against the Indiana Pacers late in the second half, it seemed it was only a matter of time before head coach Doc Rivers threw in the towel and sat his key players for the remainder of the matchup.

But Rivers had to try one last adjustment before getting to that point. Late in the game, the Sixers switched to a matchup zone defense to try and throw the Pacers off, who were shooting efficiently all game long.

Once that happened, Indiana's flow was affected, and Philly's offense hit its stride. After coming back from a double-digit deficit, the Sixers pulled off a nine-point victory on Sunday night without their best player on the floor.

"[We wanted to] take them out of rhythm," Rivers mentioned after the game. "You know, we were doing our John Chaney matchup zone," he said with a big smile. Just the other day, the basketball world was stunned to find out that former Temple University head coach, John Chaney, passed away at the age of 89.

Rivers, who admittedly didn't know Chaney well, was understandably saddened by the legend's passing. On Sunday night, though, he took a page out of Chaney's playbook and ran the matchup zone, which worked like a charm as the Sixers pounced on the Pacers late in the game and pulled off the unlikely comeback win.

"You know, [the zone] was great, and guys bought into it," Rivers continued. "When you get a couple of stops, it starts becoming more mental to the other team. If they score, then you have to get out of it, but I just wanted to knock them off their rhythm. I thought they had such great rhythm against us for those three quarters. Running it towards the end was fantastic."

Thanks to the zone defense and a hot shooting streak down the stretch, the Sixers managed to pull off a 119-110 win, snapping a three-game losing streak against Indiana. With that victory, the Sixers advanced to 15-6 on the year, keeping their spot as the number one team in the Eastern Conference for the time being.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_