NBA

Philadelphia 76ers fire coach Doc Rivers after another early playoff exit

By Sports Desk May 16, 2023 1035

Doc Rivers became the latest coaching casualty after his team underachieved in the playoffs.

The Philadelphia 76ers fired Rivers on Tuesday, two days after the team's Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics, which saw them blow a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Overseeing a talented roster led by 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid, Rivers had coached the 76ers for three seasons and only the Phoenix Suns (160) and Milwaukee Bucks (155) racked up more regular-season wins than Philadelphia (154) over that time.

Each of those Sixers' seasons, however, ended with an exit in the conference semis.

Sunday's ouster was the second time Philadelphia was eliminated with a Game 7 loss, in addition to 2021, when the top-seeded 76ers lost to the Atlanta Hawks.

Rivers is 6-10 all-time in Game 7s. No other NBA coach has more than five such defeats.

In Sunday's 112-88 loss, Philadelphia was outscored 57-36 in the second half and managed just 10 third-quarter points to tie an NBA playoff record for fewest points in a quarter in the shot clock era.

This came after the Sixers were outscored 24-13 in the fourth quarter of a 95-86 home loss in Game 6.

Rivers joins Mike Budenholzer, the 2019 coach of the year and 2021 title-winner with the Bucks, and Monty Williams, the 2022 coach of the year with the Suns, to be fired in the last two weeks after their teams were knocked out of the playoffs.

Rivers won the NBA title as coach of the Celtics in 2008, and was named coach of the year with the Orlando Magic in 2000.

He also coached the Los Angeles Clippers and has amassed a 1,097-763 (.590) record in the regular season over his 24 seasons as a coach.

Despite his regular-season success, he has not coached a team past the conference semifinals since 2012.

Last modified on Tuesday, 16 May 2023 11:20
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