Getty Doc Rivers continues to be roasted.
The Miami Heat have done their job and taken a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers by winning their first two home games.
For the Sixers, these two losses have come without their star center Joel Embiid, and his absence is being felt in a big way. Because of the injury, coach Doc Rivers has gone to DeAndre Jordan in the starting lineup, and he has caught a lot of backlash for that.
Rivers’ moves have always been under the microscope, and he’s gained a reputation for being a coach who blows series leads. Fortunately for him, it doesn’t look that’s going to be in the cards for him against the Heat due to the deck being stacked against him, but that hasn’t stopped the fans from roasting him.
It’s not just Sixers fans who like to hate on him, but Heat fans have also gotten in on the action.
Heat Fan Goes Viral
A Heat fan who got tickets to Game 1 posted a picture from behind a Sixers huddle with a caption calling out the coach.
“I can confirm Doc was cooking up nothing in this timeout,” they wrote from their BamonteAbedayo Twitter account.
The initial tweet received more that 75,000 likes, an indication that a lot of fans got a kick out of this. During Game 2, another Heat victory, the same fan got a spot behind a Sixers huddle and took essentially the same picture and added the same caption.
He still cooking up nothing lol
“He still cooking up nothing lol,” says the caption on the second image. These viral tweets even caught the attention of the Miami Heat Twitter account.
On May 5, the team posted a similar image of a Heat huddle and captioned it with “Spo cooking up something.”
Spo cooking up something
Obviously the fan and the Heat are just having fun with Rivers, but the criticisms are certainly there. After Game 1 where Jordan was cooked repeatedly, the coach said he’s going to keep starting him.
“We like DJ. We’re gonna keep starting him whether you like it or not,” he said after the game.
Going back to Philadelphia down 0-2 isn’t ideal, but the Sixers still have a chance to get the series tied up again if they take care of their business at home. It will be tough to do that without Embiid returning to the lineup.
The Latest on Embiid
Doc Rivers says he knows Joel Embiid was able to do a little bit yesterday and that he’s feeling a lot better, but also cautioned that he doesn’t want to give false hope for where he’s at in the return process
Embiid has been active on the basketball court, but it doesn’t like he’s ready to return to the court any time soon.
We’ve already seen the dangers of essentially creating a savior for the season because the Nets seemed to do the same thing Ben Simmons, a player who ended up never joining the team and then undergoing back surgery following his team’s elimination.
According to Rivers, he doesn’t want to create any false hope for where’s Embiid’s at in his progress. This could mean the Sixers will be without him for the entire series, which would prove to be a major blow to the team as they continue their title run.
Although James Harden had a good game in Game 2, it didn’t result in a win. For the Sixers to have a real shot at winning it all, they’ll need Embiid to get healthy fast.
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