What is Doc Rivers' Game 7 record? Infamous losing record explored as Sixers fire head coach
Doc Rivers was fired by the Philadelphia 76ers after another disappointing season. For the third straight year, the Sixers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, which was just not good enough.
Rivers and his team had a great chance of winning the series against the Boston Celtics. They were up 3-2 and played at home in Game 6. However, they allowed the Celtics to beat them two times in a row, eliminating them from championship contention.
With his last loss, Doc Rivers' Game 7 record is now 6-10. His teams have now lost five consecutive Game 7s, and notably, he has more Game 7 losses than any other coach in NBA history.
Doc Rivers is arguably the worst Game 7 coach in NBA history
Rivers is a fantastic coach, but his Game 7 adjustments are often horrible. Due to this, many Philadelphia 76ers fans were pessimistic ahead of Game 7 against the Boston Celtics.
While the Celtics played in front of their home crowd and had momentum in the series, no one expected them to blow out the 76ers. However, Philadelphia allowed Jayson Tatum to score a record-breaking 51 points and lead his team to a 24-point victory.
This was Doc Rivers' 10th Game 7 loss. It was likely a big reason why he was fired as well. The veteran coach has been on four different teams, yet he lost at least one Game 7 with all of them.
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Here is Rivers' complete Game 7 loss history as a head coach:
- 2003 first round: Orlando Magic 93 - 108 Detroit Pistons
- 2005 first round: Boston Celtics 70 - 97 Indiana Pacers
- 2009 second round: Boston Celtics 82 - 101 Orlando Magic
- 2010 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics 79 - 83 LA Lakers
- 2012 conference finals: Boston Celtics 88 - 101 Miami Heat
- 2015 second round: LA Clippers 100 - 113 Houston Rockets
- 2017 first round: LA Clippers 91 - 104 Utah Jazz
- 2020 second round: LA Clippers 94 - 104 Denver Nuggets
- 2021 second round: Philadelphia 76ers 96 - 103 Atlanta Hawks
- 2023 second round: Philadelphia 76ers 88 - 112 Boston Celtics
The underlined series above indicate that Rivers' team had homecourt advantage.
To make things worse, Doc Rivers' teams had homecourt advantage in four of their 10 losses. Additionally, they lost by an average margin of 14.5 points per game.
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The Celtics were close to beating the LA Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals, but they lost by four points. This was the closest Game 7 loss for Rivers. However, his teams have also had a pair of 20-point blowout losses.