Rivers: NBA must change scheduling to stop teams from resting stars

His Clippers ultimately profited, but that didn't stop Doc Rivers from calling out the league for their poor scheduling practices following Saturday's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"We have to protect our product," Rivers told ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz. "It's hard. It's impossible, if you actually knew what went into scheduling, but the look of back-to-back ABC national games - it's not good."

With Cleveland set to face the Lakers on Sunday night, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue opted to rest all three of LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving on Saturday - a move that didn't go unnoticed by the NBA front office.

Related: Wall: NBA has 'gotten a little softer' with healthy players resting

"I hate it for the fans," Rivers said. "I really do. I hate it. I do it. We all do it. I mean, it's bad. And I did it the other night in Denver. There are people with Blake and DJ jerseys all over the place."

To prevent the problem from recurring, Rivers says the NBA should avoid scheduling marquee matchups too close to other games.

"I think we have to treat those games like they're afternoon games and you don't play the night before," Rivers said. "And then you don't play the next night after."