Getty Doc Rivers argues a call in Game 5 of the Sixers-Heat series on May 10, 2022 in Miami.
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers wasn’t having it after Game 5. Fresh off a 35-point loss, the one-time champion felt the need to defend himself against a “bogus stat” brought up by a muck-raking reporter. He wanted to know why the Sixers had lost so badly in five of their nine games this season versus the Miami Heat.
The numbers don’t look good on paper, with an average margin of defeat of 17.4 points. Joel Embiid missed three of those contests, including the first two of the Eastern Conference semifinals. That was the point Rivers was all too willing to bring up. (Editor’s note: the Sixers did win their lone regular-season game versus Miami without Embiid).
“I think that’s a bogus stat, I really do,” Rivers said. “Two of those games were without Joel, alright, so no. I’m looking at this series only and we’re down 3-2 in this series. They’ve won three home games. We’ve won two home games.
“So we get to go home and hopefully win another home game and eventually, the only way we can win this series — and we knew that coming into it — we have to win one here [in Miami]. The only way we can get that is to go back [to Philadelphia] and hold serve at home again. And we’re going to have to do that.”
Rivers is doing his best to stay positive and keep his guys locked in. However, if the Sixers lose at home in Game 6 then their championship dreams go up in smoke. Season over.
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Heat Played Tougher, More Physical in Game 5
The story of the three Sixers’ losses in this series — 106-92 in Game 1; 119-103 in Game 2; 120-85 in Game 3 — came down to toughness. The Heat was more physical and just seemed to want it more in those games. Rivers had been cautious about slamming his guys for effort, until Game 5. He couldn’t hold back any longer after watching them slog up and down the court with no purpose.
“Well, they were just more physical. We didn’t run anything, we didn’t run our stuff very well,” Rivers said. “We played at a snail’s pace. What did we have? 85 shots? Turned the ball over. Everything they did tonight was harder and better.”
Philadelphia went 31-for-85 (36.5%) from the field on Tuesday night in a “burn the tape” kind of game. It was their worst shooting performance of the playoffs, slightly worse than Game 5 versus Toronto (31-for-81, 38.3%).
“Their stuff was better than what we ran,” Rivers said of the Heat. “Their energy was better, their toughness was better. I haven’t said that very often about us, and that’s on all of us. That’s on me to make sure they’re ready and that’s on them [the players] to be ready. Tonight we were not.”
Establishing Joel Embiid Top Priority
The Sixers are facing a must-win game on Thursday night just to extend the series. They can’t afford to come out flat, especially not with a packed house ready to support them at Wells Fargo Center. The best way to get the crowd into it will be by featuring Joel Embiid early and often. The MVP candidate needs to be the focal point of everything they do. They didn’t establish Embiid in Game 5.
“That’s one game, we move on,” Rivers said. “You learn from it. Some of the things they did, some of the things we just didn’t do and it was obvious. It was obvious to the naked eye. We got to establish Joel at the beginning of the game.”
Source: Heavy
