PHILADELPHIA (94WIP) — Three times, Doc Rivers-coached teams have blown 3-1 series leads in the NBA playoffs.
The Philadelphia 76ers' head coach defended his name when asked about those series losses on Wednesday as his Sixers face Game 6 in Toronto with a 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series before two Toronto Raptors wins.
Those three series losses included, with conference seeding in parentheses:
- (8) Orlando falling to (1) Detroit, 4-3 in a 2003 Eastern Conference first-round series
- (3) Los Angeles Clippers falling to (2) Houston, 4-3 in a 2015 Western Conference semifinal series
- (2) L.A. Clippers falling to (3) Denver, 4-3 in a 2020 Western Conference semifinal series in the NBA COVID-19 bubble.
"I wish you all would tell the whole story with me, alright?" Rivers said.
"My Orlando team was the eight seed. No one gives me credit for getting out against the Pistons...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!"
That Magic team, which blew a 3-1 series lead to the Detroit Pistons in 2002-03, was led by Tracy McGrady who averaged 31.7 points per game.
After that, their next leading scorer was Drew Gooden who averaged 14.0 points followed by Darrell Armstrong and Gordan Giricek at 9.4 points per game. That championship Pistons team had Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince.
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"[2015 when] we lost 3-1, Chris Paul didn't play in the first two games and was playing on one leg and we didn't have home court," Rivers continued.
"And the last one was the one we blew, we blew that and that was in the bubble and anything can happen in the bubble. There is no home court, Game 7 would have been in LA. It just happens. So I would say with me, some of it is I got to do better always. I always take my own responsibility. And then some of it, circumstances happen. This one? Let's win it and we don't have to talk about it."
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The question is relevant because after taking a 3-0 series lead over the Raptors in the quarterfinals, the Sixers have lost two straight and now face Toronto on the road Thursday in Game 6.
Joel Embiid is playing through a torn ligament in his right thumb and the pressure is mounting on Rivers, Embiid, James Harden, Daryl Morey and the Sixers.
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