Philadelphia 76ers: Why did Brett Brown Choose Raul Neto over Alec Burks?

The point guard position has been hard to figure out for the Philadelphia 76ers. Heading into the 2019-2020 regular season, the Sixers had just two true point guards on the roster in Raul Neto and Trey Burke. Although Ben Simmons was the team's starting ball-handler, the Sixers eventually figured out that it's time to stop experimenting with Simmons at point guard, and make him a point forward.

Since it took the Sixers until the season's restart to figure out they should move Simmons to forward, the front office didn't have an opportunity to search for any additional point guards. Therefore, the Sixers have been rolling with Shake Milton at the starting point guard position and spent the eight seeding games in Orlando looking at who could potentially become the backup.

Through eight seeding games, it was clear that Alec Burks needs to be on the floor for the Sixers. He might not be a pure point guard, but his ability to create his own shot and consistently score makes him almost unique to the Sixers' offense. Heading into the playoffs, Burks was arguably one of the best players for Philly down in the bubble.

So when Game 1 of the playoffs rolled around, Brett Brown issued Burks 27 minutes of playing time. The veteran guard collected 18 points off the bench giving the Sixers the scoring punch they needed. In Game 2, however, Burks was almost nowhere to be found. Not only did he fail to get a rhythm going, but he played far fewer minutes and didn't check into the game until about midway through the second quarter.

During Game 2, Brown made a notable change and decided to utilize Raul Neto as the backup point guard. Heading into the series against Boston this week, Brown made it known that Neto was not a part of the playoff rotation. On Wednesday, that wasn't the case. So what changed Brown's mind so quickly?

"We were going to give him just a little clump of minutes," Brown explained after the Game 2 loss against Boston. "If you look at how we're substituting, there's a method to the madness trying to see when [Jayson Tatum] 's in the game, when [Kemba Walker]'s in the game, and when they're not, you come in with different pairings and with Raul, we thought we could give him just a quick burst."

Neto, who picked up 14 minutes of playing time on Wednesday, wasn't much of a burst for the Sixers as he drained just two of his five attempted shots for five points. Although Brown says he liked what he saw from his reserve point guard, he also admitted they might've played him longer than anticipated.

Alec Burks' limited playing time on Wednesday doesn't seem like a trend that's going to keep up moving forward. At this point, the Sixers realize they're going to need shooters on the floor to match up with the Celtics' lethal offensive attack. Burks' shooting might not have been stellar in Game 2, as he only drained one of his eight field-goal attempts, but the Sixers know he can score, and he will need the playing time to get a groove going in Game 3.

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