“We have a bunch of street fighters” -Doc Rivers
After Joel Embiid missed Game 1 vs the Celtics, 76ers head coach Doc Rivers says his team can win even when the big stars aren’t available to play.
The Philadelphia 76ers were without MVP finalist Joel Embiid (out with a knee injury) for their Game 1 playoff game against the Boston Celtics on Monday. They were coming off of a round 1 sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, but they needed a big effort from their team with Embiid on the sidelines. James Harden and co. stepped up for Philly, who beat Boston 119-115.
The difference between this 76ers and last year’s 76ers
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers pointed out that they have been able to win now both without Joel Embiid and without James Harden.
“That’s the difference between this year’s team and last year’s team,” said Rivers. “We have a bunch of street fighters, and they believe.”
Harden put up 45 points, matching his own playoff career-high, and it was his 3-pointer over Al Horford with less than 10 seconds on the clock that won the game for the Sixers to give them a 1-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
“If we can get to the fourth quarter, we’re gonna win the game,” said Rivers.
The Boston Celtics will host Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. Embiid could potentially return for that game and the Sixers say they’re optimistic about it, but Rivers said he can’t say for sure.
“Obviously, this is not normal where you miss a game, and you have ten days off or nine days off, and you haven’t done anything in that, and then you miss another game,” Rivers said. “And just the basketball side of me says if we can get him on the floor to do something before he plays, that would be the wise thing to do, but we’ll see.”