No one can deny that Doc Rivers is a great coach. He’s turned around multiple franchises, especially in the regular season, and even won one NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008.
Then again, it seems like Rivers can’t help to shoot himself in the foot come playoff time. He’s been infamous over the past five years or so for failing to adjust, blowing big leads, and making bad rotations in the postseason.
And now that the Philadelphia 76ers were knocked out in 7 games despite being the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference, some tough facts about Rivers’ coaching have come to light.
According to Basketball Forever, Rivers has now the worst winning percentage in close-out games in NBA history and he’s also lost the most Game 7s in the history of the association:
“Doc Rivers has now lost nine Game 7s, the most in NBA history.
He has lost five Game 7s at home, the most in NBA history.
He has lost each of his last four Game 7s, the equal-worst streak in NBA history.
He has 29 losses in potential close-out games, the most in NBA history.
His .341 win percentage in close-out games, among coaches with 20+ games, is the worst in NBA history,” read their report.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Doc tied Rick Adelman for the longest losing streak in Game 7s in NBA history (4).
Doc Rivers has lost each of the last 3 Game 7s, including last year against the Nuggets.
A loss on Sunday would tie the longest losing streak in Game 7s by any head coach in NBA history. Rick Adelman lost 4 straight Game 7s across the 2002 and 2009 postseasons. pic.twitter.com/C6Gy6co6dy
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) June 20, 2021
And, as redditor HarukiMuracummy pointed out, Rivers hasn’t even made it past the second round of the playoffs since 2012 despite coaching players like Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons on his teams.
Rivers is a great coach and he’ll continue to have plenty of chances around the league even if the Sixers let him go after this failure. But he’s got to be better when it matters the most.
