The Philadelphia 76ers opened a commanding 3-0 in their first-round NBA playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. But, since those first three victories, nothing has gone their way.
Joel Embiid it has been revealed is dealing with a serious injury to his right thumb that will require surgery after the 76ers’ season ends. The team is trying to figure out how to get James Harden on track as he looks like a shell of himself at times on the court.
While the 76ers eliminated the Raptors in Game 6, Toronto was gaining momentum having won two games in a row, and looked like the more confident team.
Toronto staved off being swept, winning Game 4 in Toronto before blowing out the 76ers in Game 5 in Philadelphia. They are now returning home for Game 6 with house money, as they aren’t the first team that is halfway to blowing a 3-0 lead for the first time in NBA history.
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That has led to Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers making some bizarre comments following the team’s practice on Wednesday. Rivers has been the head coach of some collapses in the past and took a stand protecting his resume and what he has accomplished, saying there is context to the losses.
“Well, it’s easy to use me as an example,” Rivers said after the team finished practice. “But I wish y’all would tell the whole story with me. All right?
“My Orlando team [in 2003] was the eighth seed. No one gives me credit for getting up against the [Detroit] Pistons, who won the title. That was an eighth seed. I want you to go back and look at that roster. I dare you to go back and look at that roster. And you would say, ‘What a hell of a coaching job.’ Really.
“I mean, the Clipper team [in 2015] that we lost 3-1, Chris Paul didn’t play the first two games, and was playing on one leg, and we didn’t have home court. And then the last one [when the Clippers lost to the Denver Nuggets in 2020], to me, is the one we blew. That’s the one I took. We blew that. And that was in the bubble. And anything can happen in the bubble. There’s no home court. Game 7 would have been in LA.
“But, it just happens. So I would say with me, some of them is … I gotta do better always. I always take my own responsibility. And then some of it is, circumstances happen. This one, let’s win it, and we don’t have to talk about it.”
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Last season the Philadelphia 76ers collapsed under Doc Rivers, as they blew a 26-point lead in Game 5 of their second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks. While it wasn’t a 3-1 blown lead like the other ones, it is memorable because that series is the last time Ben Simmons suited up for the 76ers, with the lasting image being him passing up a wide-open dunk to make a pass to Matisse Thybulle.
Rivers sounds like someone who is preparing to lose a job and is getting his resume for when he begins applying for new ones this offseason. These are odd comments to make, as he is almost speaking into existence his team crumbling and blowing a 3-0 series lead.
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This is an odd time for Doc Rivers to get on his soapbox and boast about the job that he has done coaching throughout his career. Getting a win against the Toronto Raptors was expected and it became a bit concerning along the way.
