The Philadelphia 76ers won a pivotal Game 5 over their division rival, the Boston Celtics, giving them a 3-2 lead while also heading back to their homecourt to potentially clinch the series. Despite that, head coach Doc Rivers warned the Sixers that they have to be ready for the Celtic best punch because they have overcome this hole before.
“Listen, we all look for stuff. We openly talk about it as a group. What do they have to lean on to be confident about? Well, they’ve done this, and so they’re gonna come in with confidence. We gotta be ready for that. You still gotta get to four. No matter what. No matter how it is, you gotta get to four. We haven’t done anything, and we talked about that a lot,” Rivers said, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire.
The Celtics were down 3-2 against the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals before taking the last two games and the series to go with it.
Rivers added that the playoffs bring “emotional terrorism” and that the Sixers have weathered that storm quite well, singling out backup center Paul Reed.
“It is an important word for every team,” said Rivers. “You see it throughout teams, throughout moments, getting over a mistake. Paul Reed had a great play (in Game 5). He bobbled the ball, clear turnover, should’ve been, but he got to the ball first.”
PJ Tucker Sends Message to Sixers Ahead of Game 6
Much like Rivers, Tucker knows that the Celtics will play hard in their next game, hence why he told his Sixers teammates not to be too elated when they took their 3-2 lead.
“Even keeled, humble, hungry, and do the same things we’ve been doing,” Tucker said, per Ky Carlin. “I told everybody, we’re not excited. We expect to win, but at the same time, we respect our opponents, and we’re gonna come out and play hard because we know they are.”
Tucker made it clear that though they have the advantage and the lead, the Celtics will be playing at their hardest in Game 6.
“It feels good to get a chance to close out at home, but it’s not over,” Tucker added. “We still gotta play. They’re gonna come, they’re gonna give us everything they got, and it’s just one of those games that it’s gonna be emotional, but we got to keep our heads and stay focused and keep our mind on the goal.”
Doc Rivers Says Playing Danuel House Jr. Was ‘Gut Decision’
Rivers altered his rotation a bit when he opted to play Danuel House Jr. in Game 5, who was producing in the time he played scoring 10 points while shooting five-for-seven from the field to go with five rebounds.
During his postgame press conference, Rivers explained why he went with House Jr.
“You go with a gut. I can tell you we talked about it painstakingly yesterday and today between three guys who to play, and I can tell you House was not the pick, but I just picked him. I thought we needed size, and we needed athleticism. That’s something that he has,” Rivers told reporters, per NBA.com.
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Doc Rivers Issues Warning to Sixers After Taking Series Lead Over Celtics