Doc Rivers addresses narrative about blown 3-1 leads in playoff series

Doc Rivers has led the Philadelphia 76ers to an early 3-0 lead in the first-round series vs the Toronto Raptors. However, the Sixers lost the next two games, including a potential close-out game in front of their fans in Game 5.

Ahead of Game 6 of the series, Doc Rivers addressed the narrative about his 3-1 blown lead in NBA playoffs series during his career. When Rivers was asked about that playoff history Wednesday, he said there’s a need to go back and check the record.

“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,” Rivers told reporters Wednesday. “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.’”

“I mean, the Clipper team [in 2015] that we lost 3-1, Chris Paul didn’t play 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 LA.”

Rivers was clearly on the defensive in that question as he’s the only head coach to blow multiple 3-1 leads in playoff series. No team has ever blown a 3-0 lead, but Rivers’ 76ers are in danger of doing that after losing back-to-back games to the Toronto Raptors.

Game 6 is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in Toronto. A place that was never welcomed Philadelphia in open arms the last few seasons. So, the possibility of blowing a 3-0 lead is very real for the Sixers, who seemed to be heading for a sweep or a “gentleman” sweep at the start of the series.

“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,” Rivers stated.

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