LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers loves his bench unit, and he believes it’s the best reserve squad that he ever had in his coaching career.
Speaking to reporters during Sunday’s practice, Rivers praised his second unit and made it a point to emphasize that he has two of the top bench players in the league in Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. Both players were aggressive in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Warriors, and Doc was obviously happy with what they showed.
#Clippers’ Doc Rivers says this is easily the best bench he’s had – “No, this is the best bench easily. You’ve got 2 Sixth Man of the Year candidates who will probably end up 1 and 2 in the voting. We had a great bench before the trade, and they’re even better now.” #Warriors pic.twitter.com/q0qdKbdr2W
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 15, 2019
Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell led the Clippers in scoring in a losing effort against the Warriors. Williams had 25 points on top of nine assists during the game, while Harrell bagged 26 markers. The latter, in particular, was dominant throughout and gave the Dubs a hard time.
Williams is the front-runner to win the Sixth Man of the Year award, and all signs point that he has it in the bag. After all, he became the top-scoring bench player in the history of the NBA in the 2018-19 regular season.
Harrell, on the other hand, proved to be a great pickup by the Clippers last year. He averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season after a year that saw him put up roughly 11 points per contest.
Doc Rivers will need Williams, Harrell and the rest of the LA bench to step up big time in Game 2 against the Warriors. They would like to avoid going down a 0-2 hole, and for a starless team, they really need everyone to contribute.
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