Bucks' Brook Lopez Should Be Benched for Rest of Pacers Series

The Milwaukee Bucks pulled out a victory in Game 3 of their first-round series with the Indiana Pacers by a final score of 117-101.

A big reason why was Doc Rivers making the adjustment of inserting Gary Trent Jr. into the starting lineup. He went on to hit nine three-pointers, tying Ray Allen for a franchise record, and scoring a total of 37 points.

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The starting lineup change clearly inserted some life into the team, which helped them win in dominant fashion.

However, Rivers may still need to make adjustments if the team wants to complete the 2-0 comeback in the series. Starting center Brook Lopez has looked like a 37-year-old so far in the playoffs.

In three games, he has played just 17 minutes a game, nearly half of what he played in last year's six-game series against the Pacers.

He has only put up 5.7 points per game and is shooting just 22 percent from three. At his age and size, he is also struggling to keep up with the fast pace of the Pacers' offense, making him overall a bit of a liability on the court.

That means Rivers may need to also replace Lopez in the starting lineup, just as he did with Taurean Prince with great success.

Backup bigs Bobby Portis and Jericho Sims have both looked good in their own ways during this series.

Portis is a capable scorer who is providing better floor spacing than Lopez. He is averaging 14 points in three games, while knocking down six threes, four more than Lopez.

Sims hasn't contributed as much on the score sheet, but he provides much more energy and versatility on the defensive and on the boards.

Lopez has never been the best rebounding big, so playing a better rebounding big with more athleticism and switchability on defense could be a significant move for Rivers to make.

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It may be hard to bench a veteran like Lopez given how important he has been for the Bucks, even going back to last year, but he is clearly showing signs of his age in this year's playoffs, and Rivers needs to adjust accordingly.

With Portis's scoring being so crucial off the bench, inserting Sims into the starting lineup seems like the best move for the Bucks. In Game 3, he had eight rebounds, four offensive and four defensive, in 15 minutes of game time.

Rivers doesn't have to play Sims significant minutes even if he starts (think similar to what J.J. Redick does with Jaxon Hayes) but either way, he should probably play more than Lopez, at least for the rest of this series.

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