76ers Coach Doc Rivers Sounds Off On Reporters Over His Teams’ Past NBA Playoff Collapses

• Doc Rivers has the 76ers a game away from advancing to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs
• On Wednesday, he was asked about past collapses of teams under his leadership
• Read more NBA news here

Doc Rivers and the Philadelphia 76ers are just a game away from advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Philly has a 3-2 advantage over fifth-seeded Toronto, but they’ve lost back-to-back games in the series to make things interesting. If the Sixers aren’t able to pull out a win in Game 6, the pressure could be on in a winner-take-all finale.

It’s not the first time that Rivers-led teams have struggled after jumping out to early leads.

In the 2002-03 campaign, Rivers had the Orlando Magic up 3-1 before the top seeded Pistons stormed back with three dominant victories. Detroit would take the series and the NBA title a few rounds later.

A handful of years later, Rivers led the Clippers to the second round of the playoffs with Los Angeles jumping out to a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets. Again, Rivers’ team dropped three straight matchups to lose the series.

Then there was the 2019-20 “bubble” postseason where the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Dallas Mavericks.

Simply put, series haven’t always been easy for Doc Rivers to close out.

Doc Rivers Responds To Criticism Of His Teams’ Postseason Collapses

The Philly head coach was asked about those postseason collapses, and he wasn’t having it. Rivers immediately went into defensive mode, spouting off reasons for why his squads couldn’t close out the series.

“It’s easy to use me as an example but I wish y’all would tell the whole story with me.

“My Orlando team was the eighth seed. No one gives me credit for getting up against the Pistons, who won the title… I dare you to go back and look at that roster. You would say, ‘What a hell of a coaching job.’

“The Clipper team that we lost 3-1. Chris Paul didn’t play in the first two games and was playing on one leg. We didn’t have homecourt.

“The last one, to me, is the one that we blew… That was in the bubble, and anything can happen in the bubble. There’s no homecourt.

“It just happens.”

Rivers Hopes To Avoid A Late Collapse With Philadelphia

Rivers will look to avoid another late series collapse with his 76ers leading 3-2. A win on Thursday night would help keep the pressure off, but even if they do lose, Philadelpha holds homecourt advantage.

The Sixers will move on to play the No. 1 seeded Miami Heat if they’re able to pick up one more victory. The Heat made easy work of the Hawks with a 4-1 series win.

If Philly can’t close out, though, you can be sure that folks will look back on Rivers’ inability to finish.