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The Philadelphia 76ers have not made it past the second round of the playoffs since 2001. However, Sixers coach Doc Rivers believes this could be Philly’s year. During a recent appearance on “NBA Today,” Rivers was asked whether the Sixers compare more to his former Boston Celtics teams or LA Clippers teams. This comes as Rivers’ Celtics won the 2008 NBA championship while his Clippers team never made it past the second round. Rivers explained that Philly is more like the Celtics as his Clippers team never had a chance to win a title due to chemistry issues:
“I would say definitely more leaning towards Boston than the Clippers,” Rivers said.
“Not trying to take anything away from that (Clippers) team. We just didn’t get along well enough as a group, and you can't win without cooperation. That’s the only way you can win, and obviously better play.”
“But this team is deeper, this team reminds me a lot of Boston. We’ve added some late pieces to our team like the Boston team. We get along.”
Doc Rivers coached multiple big names during his seven seasons in LA. This includes the Clippers' former big three of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan. Rivers also coached LA’s current star duo Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for one season. Despite having all that talent, Rivers finished with a 27-32 playoff coaching record with LA.
In contrast, Rivers finished with a 59-47 playoff coaching record over nine seasons with Boston. This includes his 2008 title run with the Celtics’ big three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. The Celtics core won the title in their first season together.
Doc Rivers says it may be the right time for Philly to win a title
Later on in his interview with NBA Today, Rivers explained that for teams to win a title, they need to be at the right time. He added that this year may be the right time for Philadelphia:
“It may be the right time too,” Rivers said.
“For teams to win, it has to be the right time for all the players and everybody to wanna give up themselves and give themselves to the team. So it may be the right time for this group.”
The Sixers enter the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Philly has been led by superstar center Joel Embiid, who has had an MVP-caliber season. They also have star guard James Harden and a strong cast of complimentary players.
The Sixers are matched up against the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets in the first round. However, to get to the NBA Finals, they will likely have to knock off the second-seeded Boston Celtics and the first-seeded Milwaukee Bucks later on.
Doc Rivers has a playoff coaching record of 13-11 with the Sixers.
