2. The Bench Trio
First off, let’s give Doc Rivers credit where credit is due. His decision to start Landry Shamet and to keep playing Ivica Zubac later into the game were the right choices and were paramount in the team’s victory.
He still had one bad decision regarding his rotations. He cannot continue to run out lineups that feature all three of Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and Reggie Jackson. Two of the three are solid contributors and absolutely deserve time alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. The other is Reggie.
Even though Lou and Trezz are great, their combined defense with Reggie just leaks points. The three are not good defenders, especially against this historically great Dallas Mavericks team. Trezz was probably the best one, in part thanks to Doc matching Boban Marjanovic minutes with Zubac, but that’s not saying a ton.
Lou also made a ton of effort on the defensive end, forcing a backcourt violation at one point. The effort was great but he cannot make up for his physical limitations. No, this isn’t an indictment on either of these guys.
No, this section isn’t even a “No more Reggie Jackson!” section. Doc has to just realize he cannot play the trio together. The Clippers had started to build a lead early in the game only for it to fall apart quickly after the three entered the game. He needs to find a way to stagger the three.
Obviously, the easiest way would be just to cut Reggie out. Lou and Trezz form a powerful duo and the benefit of playing them together often outweighs the negatives. But hey, Doc is the coach and what he did last game worked, so what do I know?