76ers' Doc Rivers Slams Narrative About Blown 3-1 Playoff Series Leads

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers doesn't care about the narrative surrounding him.

Rivers asked reporters to look at each situation on a case-by-case basis, but he has overseen teams who have lost 3-1 series edges on three occasions.

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Doc Rivers got a little defensive when discussing his past teams' collapses 👀 pic.twitter.com/88PqjDDUZa

"My Orlando team [in 2003] was the eighth seed. No one gives me credit for getting up against the [Detroit] Pistons, who won the title [in 2004]. That was an eighth seed. I want you to go back and look at that roster. I dare you to go back and look at that roster. And you would say, 'What a hell of a coaching job.' Really.

"I mean, the Clipper team [in 2015] that we lost 3-1, Chris Paul didn't play in the first two games, and was playing on one leg, and we didn't have home court. And then the last one [when the Clippers lost to the Denver Nuggets in 2020], to me, is the one we blew. That's the one I took. We blew that. And that was in the bubble. And anything can happen in the bubble. There's no home court. Game 7 would have been in L.A.

"But, it just happens. So I would say with me, some of them is...I gotta do better always. I always take my own responsibility. And then some of it is, circumstances happen. This one, let's win it, and we don't have to talk about it."

Only one coach in NBA history has overseen more than one team that has lost a playoff series lead.

The 76ers are in danger of blowing a three-game lead for the first time in their history after losing the first two games of the series to the Raptors.

Game 6 is on Thursday. There is an hour in Toronto.

After the 76ers center hit a game-winning three-pointer with seven-tenths of a second left in the overtime win in Game 3, there was no reason for the series to be close.

Following the game, news emerged that Embiid had suffered a thumb injury. An injury was revealed by an exam.

Over the past two games, he played 39 minutes in Games 4 and 5. The thumb injury appears to have an effect on his play.

In his first three games against the Raps, the NBAMVP candidate averaged 27.7 points on 51.0 percent shooting and 13.0 rebound per game. He has averaged 20 points and 10 points in his last two games.

James Harden's late-season struggles have continued into the playoffs. He is shooting just 37.3 percent from the field and 18.4 points per game.

In the 103-88 Game 5 loss, the bench production (11 points) simply hasn't been there. In the first four games of the series, the 76ers couldn't find an answer for Siakam, who dropped 34 points in the first four games before adding a triple-double in the fifth.

The series goes back to Toronto. The 76ers and Raps will play a Game 7 in Philadelphia if the Raptors win Game 6.