Doc Rivers Reacts To 76ers Game 7 vs Celtics | May 14, 2023

Doc, just what went wrong in that third quarter there when Boston hit you with an avalanche? I actually thought it started in the second. I thought we were playing so well. We were trusting. The ball was moving. And then we had those, I think it was three or four turnovers in a row. One was a flagrant. And then I think Joe turned it over. Then James had a layup. The ball kind of slipped out of his hand. That led to a flagrant. You know, I think we go up ten on that. And after that, we never played right again. And then just, is that what caused the struggles to Joel and James, is you just didn't play well or play right, I should say? No, I thought they played right, you know, overall, but we didn't play well, you know? Doc, was there anything specifically with James and Joel that forced them to kind of struggle, you know, shooting the ball today? Give Boston credit, you know. They played hard. They played great D overall. You know, I thought we had opportunities. I mean, I thought we had the ball in the right places a lot tonight. Even not only just those two, I thought even when we swung, the guys had great shots, you know, and I don't know what else we could have done. Doc, the last two games, James didn't seem to play as aggressively as he played in games one and four. Was it something they did, or was it something James allowed them to do? No, I gotta say this. I thought James, you know, I thought James came to play. I really did. I thought he was trying to see the game. I thought he played downhill a lot. You know, where he passed the ball was the right decisions tonight. And, you know, we didn't get anything out of it. You know, I get it. You know, James, Joel, me, you know, I know we got a point somewhere, right? But I just thought, like, I thought, you know, James in particular, I thought he was trying to do the right things tonight. I really did. That said, the big three, James, Joe, and you. Yeah. This is the first year that- I'm a big three now. Well, you win that many games, you get to be one of the big three. Yeah, we play great all year. And this loss absolutely diminishes that, what we did this year. You know, in some ways. It doesn't for us. I think this team is headed right. I thought we took another, like, mental step this season. And then tonight, I thought we took that step backwards, but that's okay. That happens too, so. Can something good come from that step backward? Yeah, I mean, it always can. I mean, I say it every year. One team wins, you know? It's not gonna be us this year. And that was our goal. Coach, they ran a lot of pick and roll at Joel today. You have a reason why that wasn't, why you weren't able to defend that very well? Yeah, we didn't handle it very well. I mean, it's the same coverages that we've been in all year, in all series. And we've been very effective at it. You know, they didn't do it early. They did it more in the second half. And, you know, listen, I thought there was fatigue on our end, you know? And I thought that hurt us, but they were effective in everything they did. Doc, I guess to go off of Marcus's questions, just how do you sort of handle the immediate aftermath of- Well, you don't. There's nothing you can do about it. You know, you make sure your players, you know, as a coach, you take the coaching role and you take the father role as well. And so after a game like this, my job is to make sure every player is in the right place. That's what I have to do. I can't, you know, I tell my coaches that this is not the time to worry about you, all right? I told all my assistants that you make sure you go in that locker room and you go and grab guys that you don't think are right and you sit with them and get them right. You know, this is what you do. It's not the fun part of our jobs, but it is what it is. Hey, Doc, are you planning to be the coach of the team next year? Yeah, you know, I think I got two years left. Given the tenor of what you've seen happen in the last two or three days, we're coaches of the year, guys with titles. Yeah, no one's safe in our business, you know, and I get that. That said, can you address what you saw from Joel Embiid in the last six games of the season, playing himself back into shape and playing on a bad knee? Yeah, he did, and, you know, I think that fall where he stepped on Marcus Smart, I know something happened there because I didn't think he was right from that point on. You know, the kid deserves a break. He really does. He deserves one shot to just be 100% throughout. You know, I don't know if we would have won this series, but I would just love to have him one time where we don't have issues, you know? You know, I haven't had that opportunity, and Joel haven't had that opportunity, and that sucks for everybody. Is there a thought that maybe if he changes the abandon with which he plays, maybe he would stay up? No, I get you, but he's good for the reason how he plays, you know? So, you know, that's a tough one because I don't want him to change. I mean, part of the reason Joel's so dominant is because he's seven feet tall, and he's 300 pounds, and he plays like a guard. You know, going to the floor, I don't think it's what hurts him. It's all the banging and the contact more than anything, and then luck. I mean, he stepped on someone's foot in the Brooklyn series, you know, so. Doc, Jason Tamm set the record for the most points in a game seven. As far as games that you were involved in as either a player or a coach, how many other playoff games do you think were of this caliber? I've seen one, and it was in this building, unfortunately, and it was LeBron. That's the only time I've seen a performance like that live. I'm glad that I haven't seen many, but yeah, I've seen one, and Tatum was, he was not only unbelievable, he played just hard defensively, and he didn't take a lot of bad shots, you know? I thought he got him in rhythm, and he played great overall tonight, so. You talked before the game about putting yourself out there and being willing to, you've obviously been in this round a bunch of times over the past several years and not gotten through. Kind of what are your emotions being in this? I'm disappointed, I'm disappointed. I thought we had the right group. I really did, and I knew, you know, it's funny, I look out, and I, you know, you talk about keeping receipts sometimes, you know what I mean? I don't think a person in this room picked the Sixers. You know, and I won. But we did, and we chose to believe that we could win anyway, and we almost pulled it off. You know, game six will be something we'll think about, you know, game seven will be something we think about. But as far as our guys' fight against everybody who picked against us, they didn't care. They thought they could still win this series. And, you know, that's something good about our team. I thought overall we were fighters. You mentioned you think this group is headed in the right direction to take the next step. What does this group need? Oh, too early, too early to think, I don't know. Tim's is a valid question. I just, I had plans on preparing for Miami tonight, you know, and that plans on thinking about our future. Do you think that the Harden-Imby pairing still has room to grow? Can that take another step? Yeah, I do. You know, James has a decision to make this summer, you know, and he'll make it. I think he overall enjoyed being here. You know, it's tough for him. We asked him to play a little different than he's always been accustomed to. I think it made us a better team. And unfortunately, I thought for James at times, it wasn't always best for him, but he still did it. And so, you know, you appreciate that as a coach. Doc, along those same lines, this is about to become maybe a very expensive team after the summer. Are you of the belief that it has not yet hit a ceiling, that this group should be given another shot? Yeah, I believe that wholeheartedly, but that's not up for me. It really is not up to me. That's up to our owners and Darryl. I think they liked what they saw overall, but, you know, I don't know. Thanks, Coach. Thanks, guys.