Doc Rivers and the Philadelphia 76ers have done it once again. Despite holding a 3-2 series lead over the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference semifinals series, and even having a lead late in the fourth quarter of Game 6, Philly couldn't punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, and crashed out of the playoffs after throwing away Game 6 and getting blown out in Game 7.
The Sixers have made the postseason in each of the past six seasons, but have lost in the semis in five of those six seasons, with the one exception being when they lost in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs. Rivers has been the man in charge in the three most recent playoff failures, and it's clear fans are not happy with him.
Rivers' reputation of choking in the playoffs is well-known at this point, and it seemed like this was a do-or-die situation for him. As we all know, things didn't exactly pan out for Philly here, and once again, Rivers is on the hot seat. And unfortunately for Rivers, this isn't a choke job he should be able to survive, so let's look at three reasons why that's the case.
3. The Sixers have continually failed to meet expectations under Doc Rivers
When Rivers took over for the Sixers in 2020, the hope was that he would elevate the team into a true championship contender. He had one of the best young stars in the game in Joel Embiid, a talented two-way hybrid guard in Ben Simmons, and a strong supporting cast around them. And yet, through three seasons, Philadelphia has remained as frustrating as ever.
Of course, Rivers couldn't have predicted the downfall of Simmons, but in fairness, he played a role in forcing the divisive guard out the door. Philly eventually managed to land James Harden to pair up with Embiid, but again, the results never truly surfaced. While you obviously can't throw these three seasons away, the 76ers have accomplished virtually nothing in Rivers' three seasons with the team.
Not everything is on Rivers' shoulders, but when a championship caliber team continues to get stuck on the same roadblock year after year, changes need to be made. Oftentimes, the coach ends up being the fall guy whether right or wrong, and with many fans against him, it's tough to see Rivers sticking around after this failure.
2. Joel Embiid and James Harden just gave up on Doc Rivers in their Game 7 collapse
You can't judge Rivers too harshly on overall expectations, as he has increased the Sixers win total in each of his three seasons with the team. But you only need to look at Philly's Game 7 calamity to see why Rivers has to go. As the game went on, Rivers had no answer for the Celtics, and his best players in Embiid and Harden basically gave up on him.
Philadelphia hit an early three in the third quarter to tie the game at 55 apiece, only to watch the C's go on a ridiculous 33-7 run throughout the rest of the quarter to pretty much end the game then and there. And while Embiid and Harden are good players, they showed no signs of wanting to stop Boston. Both players were ridiculously passive on offense, while providing no resistance on defense.
You have to have a coach that players can connect with when the going gets hard, and the Sixers simply do not appear to have that in Rivers. Rather than finding a way to get the best out of Embiid and Harden in these situations, he sat back and watched everything blow up in his face. Harden's comments in particular from after Game 7 don't exactly bode well for Rivers either, and it looks like he has lost the support of his two most important players.
1. Doc Rivers has one of the worst postseason track records of all time
Well, this isn't exactly a mystery. Rivers led the Celtics to a championship back in 2008, but ever since then he has been blowing series leads like it's his job. Since 2008, Rivers has blown a 2-0 series lead, two 2-1 series leads, four 3-2 series leads, and even two 3-1 series leads. At what point will we realize that Rivers simply isn't cut out for the postseason?
This latest loss from Rivers might be the most crushing of them all, as the Sixers were moments away from punching their ticket to the ECF for the first time since 2001. Instead, Rivers couldn't find a way to get his offense to run through his best player in Embiid, and made virtually no adjustments before or during Game 7 to add another confounding series loss to his list.
The postseason is what matters the most in the NBA, and for three straight seasons now, Rivers hasn't been able to achieve any tangible improvement for the Sixers in this area. He can't continue to escape these struggles, and for this extremely big reason, it's very clear that it's time for Philadelphia to kick Rivers to the curb and find a new head coach.
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