Getty Images Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers
The Los Angeles Clippers matched up against the Portland Trail Blazers in a tough battle on Thursday night. The Clippers pumped up the gas in the fourth quarter and took the Blazers down in a 107-101 victory.
Per Forbes NBA writer, Farbod Esnaashari, with this victory, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers has accumulated 900 wins as a coach, making him the 13th coach in the NBA to do so.
Doc Rivers just became the 13th coach in NBA History to reach 900 wins. Congrats coach!
Doc Rivers on His 900th Win
Per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints, in a post-game interview, Doc Rivers revealed that he was unaware of the number of wins he had accumulated until two days ago. He said, “It didn’t seem right, that number, but I’ve done it because I’ve had great players my entire career, great coaches around me, and great people too.”
Doc Rivers accrued his 900 victories over a 21-year span. As reported by Esnaashari, Rivers recognized his assistant, Anne Marie who has worked for Doc his entire coaching career. He said, “I’ve had her [Anne Marie] for 21 years. Those are the people that don’t get credit.”
The Clippers players were proud of Doc and celebrated with their coach after the game. In a post by Esnaashari, Lou Williams said in an interview that Trez even doused the winning coach in water. Williams said, “this is a tremendous accomplishment. Doc’s been around the block. He’s a championship coach, I’m trying to get one with him. I am happy to be a part of the process.”
The #Clippers doused Doc Rivers with water after his 900th win.
Lou Williams went on record to say it was Trez that doused him.
Clippers guard, Patrick Beverley also had a few words for his coach. “That’s pretty lit,”
said Beverley in an interview posted by Esnaashari. “To earn 900 wins in this league is extremely tough.”
Patrick Beverley on Doc Rivers getting his 900th win: “That’s pretty lit. To get 900 of anything is pretty dope. Especially in this league, it’s a very hard league.” #Clippers
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
The Clippers did it again. The team waited until the fourth quarter to fire it up, earning a victory highly attributed to stellar defense. The Trail Blazers only shot 37.5% from the field, barely racking up over 100-points.
The Clippers went into the fourth quarter down by six points, 76-70. With Kawhi in the fourth quarter, the Clippers were able to earn their first lead. Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers answered back and tied the game, 98-98. With 58 seconds left, Lou Williams responded with a quick jumper followed by a three which put Clippers in the lead for good.
The team was able to win despite the fact that they only had four successful 3-pointers. Clippers’ superstar, Kawhi Leonard led the team with 27 points. This came after Leonard sat out in Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks due to load management, knee. Trailing Leonard, was Lou Williams who scored 26 points and had a team-high of eight assists.
Head coach, Doc Rivers recognized that Thursday night’s win was due to defense. Per Esnaashari, Rivers said in an interview, “It’s our third game that we’ve won completely because of our defense. Our offense was below average, and we’re still winning basketball games. That’s a great sign for the early going.”
The Los Angeles Clippers are set to host the Toronto Raptors Monday night at 7:30 p.m.