Doc Rivers On Small Ball And The Small Margin Of Error

Doc Rivers went with a small lineup in the 4th quarter and got killed on the glass and in the paint because of it. The question is, will he go back to it or will he make some adjustments?

Doc Rivers unsure about Celtics' defensive lineup for Game 5 - The Boston Globe

"It goes game to game, it really does,’’ Rivers said when asked about the effectiveness of his small lineup. "I think honestly if we made one mistake we should have went back to Bass [and the bigger lineup]. The first three games our small lineup was a better lineup than our big lineup. Statistically in Game 4, the big lineup was better. The big lineup is what got us the lead. The big lineup is what in the beginning of the third got us off to a good start. Both times when we went small, it actually hurt us.

Injuries and age are, of course, a primary concern and make any lineup or rotation dilemma even more difficult.

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"That’s the scariest part of our team," Rivers said. "I’ve said it for three months. We are very thin. We don’t have a big margin for error. We don’t have it even when guys are healthy. Our good players have to play well to give our bench guys a chance to stay on the floor longer, which allows us to get more rest. There’s a minute number in every game that I’m concerned with our starters. When they get over that, we struggle. There’s a lot of things going on in a game every night for us. Quite honestly a lot of teams don’t have to deal with, but we do and we know that."

Hopefully Doc can find the winning combinations and keep everyone fresh and productive.