3. Doc Rivers
I could write on Doc Rivers’ issues for days after this one. I feel like the majority of the loss falls on his shoulders.
Pregame, I was excited. Doc told the media that he would try and avoid bad defensive matchups such as Lou Williams and Reggie Jackson sharing the court. As soon as the first round of subs came in, guess what happened?
It didn’t stop there. Doc also made note of how playing Ivica Zubac minutes to match with Boban Marjanovic had been effective in their game three win. In game four, Montrezl Harrell was back out there matched with Boban. Trezz also played alongside Williams and Jackson, putting three net negative defenders on the court.
Late game, Doc kept Reggie Jackson on the court.
Look, I get it. Reggie was good offensively and even made one of the best plays of the game when he saved a loose ball to Kawhi Leonard who drained a three.
Dallas took advantage of him over and over though. The Clippers (for whatever reason) switched on every screen, and the Mavericks just kept getting Reggie in that action. Why didn’t Doc address this? We don’t know.
We all know what happened at the end of the game. Dallas had the ball and inbounded to Luka. The Clippers switched, Reggie was on Luka and the Clippers lost the game. Why was Reggie in there? Again, we don’t know.
Doc is not making the right adjustments and meanwhile, Rick Carlisle is getting his young team to compete at the highest level. I’ve never been on the whole “fire Doc” train but if the Clippers end up losing this series, I really will have to reconsider my stance.