Following the team’s chastening Eastern Conference Semifinals loss to the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers have parted ways with head coach Doc Rivers.
“Doc is one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, a future Hall of Famer, and someone I greatly respect,” Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey said.
He made an important impact on our franchise during his three seasons here, and we’re grateful for everything he accomplished.
After reflecting on our season, we have decided that certain changes are necessary in order to achieve our championship goals.”
On Sunday, the Celtics swept the 76ers in Game 7, winning 112-88 thanks largely to Joel Embiid and James Harden’s horror show. While Rivers deserves some blame – he now has an uninspiring 6-10 record in Game 7s – fans will likely focus on Embiid and Harden’s failures as the root cause.
Harden scored just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting to cap off a series in which he also scored 12, 16, 17 and 13 points. Al Horford, 36, largely neutralized Embiid’s threat on Sunday, scoring 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting – the second time in the series Embiid scored that lowly figure.
The fact that Embiid had one of the most disappointing postseason performances of any MVP in league history may be some consolation to NBA or Denver Nuggets fans.
Averaging 33.1 points per game during the regular season, Embiid averaged just 23.7 points per game in the playoffs, the largest drop off from any MVP in NBA history.
Rivers coached the Sixers to 154-82 regular season records and 20-15 postseason records, losing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals each year.
Rivers joins Monty Williams, Mike Budenholzer, and Nick Nurse in being dismissed by NBA teams recently.