Rivers Defends DeAndre Jordan's Performance Ahead of Game 2 vs. Heat

Going into the Game 1 matchup of the second-round series against the Miami Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers knew they would have a large hole in the starting lineup.

As Sixers center Joel Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and a mild concussion on top of his torn thumb ligament during the Game 6 victory over the Toronto Raptors in the first round, the big man couldn't get cleared for action to start the second round.

76ers head coach Doc Rivers made it apparent that the Sixers would roll with a committee of centers rather than trying to replace Embiid flat-out. Many believed that since Paul Reed was Embiid's primary backup in round one, he would get promoted to the starting lineup in Embiid's absence.

But that wasn't the case. Instead, Doc Rivers continued to roll with Paul Reed off the bench while starting DeAndre Jordan. In addition, the veteran Paul Millsap picked up some playing time as well.

Rivers' decision to start Jordan was met with a lot of criticism that he's well aware of. As Jordan's first four minutes on the floor contributed to a 12-point deficit in the first quarter of action, Rivers substituted Reed in before giving Millsap some minutes and going away from Jordan entirely in the first half.

However, just because Rivers went away from Jordan didn’t mean his night was complete. Jordan not only started the second half of Game 1, but he led the Sixers in minutes at the center position as he played nearly 13 minutes.

After the game, Rivers revealed that he rolled with Jordan to keep Paul Reed out of foul trouble. In addition, he mentioned that the team’s key players preferred to continue playing with Jordan going into the second half. He also added that the team would start Jordan once again moving forward whether critics “like it or not.”

As the Sixers prepared for their Game 2 matchup on Wednesday morning, Rivers once again defended Jordan’s Game 1 performance. After reviewing the game film from the first outing, the Sixers coach concluded that his team’s struggles didn’t have much to do with Jordan or any of the other centers’ performances.

“When you look at the first half [of the last game], he didn’t have a lot to do with why we were down,” said Rivers. “They scored every time. He just played freer and not in thought. You know, I thought Millsap gave us some good minutes as well, and I think Paul Reed gave us some good minutes.”

While Rivers believes that Jordan, Millsap, and Reed all had positive moments during the series opener, he added that the Sixers still need more from all three guys to find better success in Game 2.

“When you watch the tape, all three of them is not the reason [we lost],” Rivers concluded. “Any of those three had very little to do with why we were losing or ahead in the game. But we’re going to need more from all of them.”

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