Just two days after defeating them, going away, in Game 1 of their second-round NBA Playoffs matchup, 106-92, the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers are surely preparing to do it all over again.
Getting themselves set to do battle once more and like any NBA Playoff series, there are sure to be a ton of ebbs and flows to the games and the series, as a whole. That’s just it though.
Whereas the day-to-day grind of the regular season is just about getting through it healthy and with a good enough record to position yourself for the postseason tournament, the NBA Playoffs are all about adjustments from game to game.
Where you don’t have time to think about who you’ll be facing next or who you played last during the regular season, with so many different opponents and in so many different cities throughout the year, the playoffs are the complete opposite.
The Miami Heat have Game 2 of their second-round series on Wednesday night. And 76er head coach, Doc Rivers, plans to start center, DeAndre Jordan, again.
It’s a game where you see the same team over and over again. It’s a game where everything, quite literally, is about tweaks and adjustments from game to game.
Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. It’s just that—no one has, apparently, told Philly head coach, Doc Rivers, about it.
Doc Rivers just now: "We are going to keep starting him [DeAndre Jordan] whether you like it or not because our guys believe in him."
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) May 3, 2022
After seeing DeAndre Jordan, a once menacing defensive presence in the NBA, attacked over and over again at will by the Miami Heat, Rivers stated after Game 1 that he would go with him again. After Monday night, Rivers will, once again, start one of his most worked with players.
To the notion of “believing in him”, that’s where Rivers probably gets that feeling as he’s had Jordan for almost half of his pro career, six of 14 years or so. However, that might not be the smartest thing for his team.
While, again, Jordan was once a menacing presence as a rim protector, he doesn’t seem to still be that. The Miami Heat should, once again, attack Jordan and continue to attack him some more if this is Doc’s plan.
Only time will tell, but it won’t be a lot of time. For “telling” or for Jordan on the court Wednesday if he looks anything like he did, at times, on Monday night.
Please Doc, do the Miami Heat that favor.