In their biggest game of the season to this point, the Philadelphia 76ers showed out. The Sixers beat the Boston Celtics in Tuesday night's Game 5 by a final score of 115-103 behind a 33-point, seven-rebound performance from superstar center Joel Embiid. They now own a 3-2 series lead and are one win away from advancing to their first Eastern Conference Finals since the 2000-01 season.
But despite the desirable situation that the Sixers are in in this series after their Game 5 win, head coach Doc Rivers is anything but satisfied, as this series is far from over.
Rivers recently spoke to the media and delivered a stern message ahead of Philadelphia's potential close-out Game 6 against the Celtics, per a tweet from Sixers team reporter Lauren Rosen:
“You can’t get too comfortable. Period. In the playoffs, there’s no such thing as comfort. I’ve never heard the words comfort and playoffs together. They just don’t go together.”
Doc Rivers and the Celtics have quite the history together. Rivers coached Boston for eight years — from the 2004-05 season all the way up to 2012-13 — and won a title with the franchise back in 2008.
Rivers and the Sixers have a pivotal Game 6 ahead of them on Thursday night. If the Sixers can pick up the win at home, they will eliminate a hated rival in the Celtics and will have a prime chance to advance even further than the Conference Finals. So here's to hoping that Joel Embiid and James Harden can lead the Sixers to victory on Thursday and ensure there won't be a Game 7.