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Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers was heated following his team’s 114-109 victory. Not at his young Sixers who eked out a tough road win on Tuesday night. He was tired of the “silly questions” tossed his way by the Philly media.
The Sixers surrendered a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Toronto Raptors before Tobias Harris made four free throws in a row to provide the final margin. Joel Embiid hit a jumper with 51.3 seconds left to swing momentum back to Philly. That dynamic duo combined for 55 points and 23 rebounds. And Harris notched the first triple-double of his career: 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists. It should have been all rainbows and unicorns after the game, then one reporter pushed too hard.
The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey asked Rivers if he was satisfied with the win. His line of questioning had implied that the Sixers should have won much more comfortably against an undermanned Toronto team. They won by five points, a box score that added up to a Sixers’ victory any way you split it up. So a justifiably upset Rivers unleashed on Pompey:
“It’s funny, when we were undermanned and won a couple games and we had close games that we lost, I didn’t hear that in reverse. This is the NBA, Keith, like think about that stretch when we had all those guys out and we lost four or five games by one point, three points. You think their coach was worried that they won by one or three points? These guys play hard, man, every single guy in this league can play.
“So I don’t sit back and judge like well we didn’t win by 10 tonight, or 12 tonight. We won the game and that locker room in there, they’re happy. They’re not sitting back like ‘Man, we should have won by 20.’ No, you shouldn’t of. You should have won by exactly as many as you won by.”
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Stop Asking Silly, Dumb A** Questions
Pompey asked for a follow-up question and Rivers obliged him. As the head coach once again attempted to outline how wins count just the same, no matter if you win by 30 points or one point, Pompey accused Rivers of getting emotional. Don’t go there.
“No, I’m not [getting emotional] at all. I’m just miffed by the question,” Rivers said. “It tells me clearly you didn’t play enough [basketball]. You gotta understand that, like if you win a game, Keith, you’re happy. My point is, I didn’t hear you asking about losing those close games.
“What do you think, are you happy about the loss because you were close with an undermanned team? No, it’s not the same thing. My point is, Keith, it’s a dumb a** question. I just think it’s like a silly question, I really do. We won a game and you’re trying to take steam away from it. I think that’s silly.”
No Championship Ring for Danny Green
Sixers starter Danny Green remains in the COVID-19 protocol and didn’t travel with the team to Canada. He was supposed to finally receive his 2019 championship ring in a small ceremony, but his absence cancelled those plans. It marked the second time in two years Green was denied the ring due to the novel coronavirus.
The Raptors played home games in Tampa Bay last season, so Green wanted to wait until they returned to Toronto. Now with a spike in COVID-19 cases everywhere, the ring ceremony has been postponed until April 7, 2022. Remember, Green’s 2019 Raptors beat the Sixers in the Eastern Conference semifinals before taking the trophy.
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