Danuel House Rewarded Doc Rivers’ Gut Feeling vs. Celtics

Although the Philadelphia 76ers were coming off of a dramatic Game 4 victory in overtime on Sunday afternoon, the Sixers still recognized they might need to make a slight tweak to the rotation.

Many have been urging the Sixers to utilize the two-way wing Danuel House Jr. in the series, as he brings a lot of athleticism to the table. However, Doc Rivers has opted against trotting out House more often than not during the 2023 playoff run.

In the first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets, House appeared in just two of the four games. He totaled under five minutes between the two games he played.

When the Sixers started their series against the Boston Celtics, House picked up his third-straight DNP of the playoffs in Game 1 on the road in Boston.

In Game 2, House collected a little under nine minutes of action while making his series debut. Clearly, House’s 1-5 from the field didn’t convince Rivers and the Sixers that he could be a consistent rotational player throughout the series.

In Game 3, House saw the court for a whopping 19 seconds. In Game 4, he didn’t play at all. That was almost the case again in Game 5, as Doc Rivers admitted that the constant pregame debate about who should play and who shouldn’t didn’t favor House.

However, a sudden gut feeling forced Rivers to trust what he was feeling and trot House out onto the floor for a must-win Game 5 on the road in Boston.

Not only did House prove he was the right choice — but he earned more than 15 minutes of postseason playing time for the first time since his run with the Utah Jazz last season.

“You go with a gut,” Rivers told reporters. “I can tell you we talked about it painstakingly yesterday and today between three guys. I can tell you, House was not the pick — but I just picked him. I thought we needed size, and we needed athleticism. That’s something that he has.”

“To be honest with you, he really didn’t tell me,” House added. “He told me a role, but he just told me to go in and play. My job was to bring energy. Showcase a little bit for the team, guard the yard, and make sure I’m executing plays.”

House was a pleasant surprise off the bench for the Sixers, who needed a little bit of a boost from everybody in Game 5. Checking in for 15 minutes, House hit on five of his seven shots from the field for ten points. He also collected five rebounds and dished out one assist as the Sixers put the Celtics away with a 12-point victory to take a 3-2 lead.

The Sixers and the Celtics will meet again on Thursday night for Game 6. A Boston win would send the series back to TD Garden for a Sunday do-or-die matchup. If the Sixers can pull it off, they will punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.