Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers made the adjustment in Game 3 by starting Gary Trent Jr. who more than delivered on what was asked from him. Maybe he can adjust a little more and play Jericho Sims more minutes based on statement made by Damian Lillard.
Simms played 15 minutes in the game three win, scoring four points and grabbing eight boards.
He also played in the first two games, registering 10 and 8 minutes in Game 1 and 2, respectively.
Although the stats are not filled for him, his impact is something people would not see on the stat sheet. That’s exactly what Lillard saw in him in Game 3.
“Obviously, in the playoffs, you’ve got to find different matchups to try to change the series as games go by,” Lillard said post-game.
“Tonight, he was out there, he was able to switch, he was protecting the rim, getting us extra possessions, and that’s the energy and activity we need off our bench and especially when they bring in the second unit. Where they usually dominate second units, we can be that big in the paint and have that type of presence in the paint, I think, is huge for our team.”
Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo preach defense
Defense has been one of the main issues for the Bucks this series. Pacers averaged 50 percent on the field in first two games.
Lillard said they should win this department to be able to have a chance. He did it himself by stepping up on defense amid his offensive struggle.
His superstar teammate Antetokounmpo preaches the same thing and he hopes the team will remember that come the next game.
“We’re a team that we copy and we paste,” Antetokounmpo said.
“Like, we try to repeat it. When you see something that’s working, we just want to do it over and over and over again.
“That’s how we get our confidence. I hope that we understand, myself also, that from the third quarter and fourth quarter, what changed the game was our defense.”
The Bucks-Pacers series will resume on Thursday as the Bucks hope to even the series or else, they will go down 1-3.
Only 13 teams have come back from a 1-3 deficit in a seven-game series in NBA history. That is just 4.5 percent of the 275 times a series saw this record.
Interestingly, Doc Rivers is at the wrong end in one of those comebacks.
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