Why 76ers Played Dewayne Dedmon Over Paul Reed vs. Suns

Saturday’s matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns was tough for the visitors. Coming off of a Friday night loss on the road against the Golden State Warriors, the Sixers surely looked like a team that was coming off a matchup that ended less than 24 hours from tip-off.

But the Sixers couldn’t use that excuse, which is something that head coach Doc Rivers acknowledged. As Phoenix faced the Sacramento Kings on the road on Friday night, they were in a similar predicament. 

Yet, Phoenix looked like the much better team from start to finish. While the Sixers got an outstanding performance out of Tyrese Maxey, the rest of the starting lineup struggled to match his success.

And when it came to the battle of the benches, the Suns’ group of reserves found tons of success against the Sixers. Philly’s reserves, on the other hand, gave their team “nothing,” as Doc Rivers described it.

Early on in the second half, Rivers chose to make a notable change to the second unit. Instead of utilizing the third-year center Paul Reed, as he’s done consistently lately, Rivers chose to roll out Dewayne Dedmon. After the game, Rivers explained his decision to go to Dedmon over Reed.

“We just needed some life,” Rivers explained. “That first group in the first half gave us nothing. We have Dedmon here, and we need to get him some minutes to see what he can give us.”

When Reed checked in for the first half, he clocked six minutes on the floor. While he didn’t take any shots during that time, Reed came down with two rebounds. He was a minus-two on the floor.

Rivers’ gamble to utilize Dedmon in hopes of the veteran bringing life to the floor did not pay off. In nine minutes, Dedmon attempted one shot from the field, which was unsuccessful. While he came down with two rebounds, Dedmon finished the night as a minus-13. 

Once again, Rivers acknowledged that the non-Joel Embiid minutes were tough to see, but it doesn’t come down to who the backup center is, as the entire second unit failed to exceed expectations.

“We didn’t play well,” Rivers added. “We didn’t move the ball today. The ball was stagnant offensively. That’s not how we play. And when we play like that, it’s hard for us to win. When our bench plays like that, it’s impossible for us to win. Watching them to move the ball and watching us not move the ball was really tough from a coach’s eyes.”

Phoenix’s bench outscored Philly’s group of reserves 53-13. This season has been a roller coaster for the Sixers’ bench, and Saturday’s game was undoubtedly a low-point for the group. 

While Rivers hoped that Dedmon could give them some life, there simply wasn’t one player who could save the Sixers from a 125-105 beatdown on Saturday.