Doc Rivers Says His Clippers Teams Were 'Never Going to Win'; 76ers Like 2008 Celtics

Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers says this year's 76ers team reminds him of the Boston Celtics squad he coached to a championship in 2008.

The 76ers are currently more similar to that title-winning group than the Los Angeles Clippers were under Rivers' direction from 2013 to 2020, the coach told Malika Andrews on an April 13 episode of NBA Today.

"I'm not trying to take anything away from that [Clippers] team, but that team was never going to win when you look back at it," Rivers said. "We just didn't get along well enough as a group, and you can't win without cooperation. That's the only way you can win."

"For teams to win, it has to be the right time. ... It may be the right time for this group," Rivers added.

During Rivers' seven seasons in Los Angeles, the team saw three first-round exits and three second-round departures and missed the playoffs once after an injury-ridden 2017-18 season.

In his first two years with the Sixers, they have gotten as far as the conference semifinals—but Rivers said the 2022-23 Philadelphia roster is deeper than his Los Angeles squads that never made it past the second round.

"This team reminds me a lot of Boston," said Rivers. "We've added some late pieces to our team, like to Boston's team. We get along."

While the Celtics' championship run was led by Boston's Big Three of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, late free-agency additions like P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell ended up playing crucial supporting roles en route to the title.

Rivers hopes that Joel Embiid, James Harden and the 76ers are set to receive a similar boost from spring depth additions like Jalen McDaniels, who will be making his playoff debut, and veteran center Dewayne Dedmon, who played in the Eastern Conference Finals with the Miami Heat last season.

Philadelphia, which finished the season as the No. 3 seed in the East, is set to face the No. 6 Brooklyn Nets at home when Round 1 begins Saturday.