Detroit Pistons first team a Doc Rivers coached squad blew playoff series
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is under the spotlight as the Philadelphia 76ers struggled to put away a Toronto Raptors team it held a 3-0 series lead on at one point. He had three times previously seen 3-1 leads slip away. The first time was against the Detroit Pistons.
Philadelphia was finally able to put away the Raptors, eliminating them in Game 6 with a 35-point win. But losing, badly, two straight games after being up, 3-0, brought back some ghosts of Rivers’ coaching past.
In 2003, Doc RIvers was a bright young coach. Already voted NBA Coach of the Year once, he took an Orlando Magic team, with future Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, and rolled to a 3-1 lead over the Pistons.
The Pistons, under coach RIck Carlisle, had the best record in the Eastern Conference that season, going 50-32. Orlando was the No. 8 seed, having been 42-40 in the regular season.
Some of the main pieces of the Pistons’ 2004 ‘Goin to Work’ title team were already there, Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace. But also starting were 36-year-old Cliff Robinson at forward and 34-year-old guard Michael Curry. Tayshaun Prince was a substitute.
After splitting in Detroit, the Magic won both games in Orlando to take the 3-1 lead. Asked about it at 76ers practice on Wednesday, Rivers explained the situation (according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps):
"“Well, it’s easy to use me as an example,” Rivers said. “But I wish y’all would tell the whole story with me. All right?“My Orlando team [in 2003] was the eighth seed. No one gives me credit for getting up against the [Detroit] Pistons, who won the title. That was an eighth seed. I want you to go back and look at that roster. I dare you to go back and look at that roster. And you would say, ‘What a hell of a coaching job.’. Really.”"
Well, actually, Detroit did not win the title that year. They made the conference finals, where they were swept by the Vince Carter/Jason Kidd-led New Jersey Nets. Next season, with a new coach in Larry Brown, and some roster adjustments, they did win it all. But that was not this team.
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Detroit might not have been the championship squad they would be the following year, but there still were plenty of prideful players who did not want to get rolled by the No. 8 seed. The Pistons stomped the Magic in the final three games, 15 points being the closest margin.
The turning point was in Game 6 , in Orlando, Billups poured in 40 points and the normally offensively-challenged Ben Wallace had 20 points (along with 17 rebounds and five blocks) as the Pistons won, 103-88.
Ironically, Rivers’ 76ers team lost to the Raptors in Game 6 by the exact same 103-88 score.
The early scare did nothing to hurt Detroit’s confidence, they went on in the next round to defeat the Allen Iverson (back when he was good) 76ers, 4-2.
Was Magic roster that bad compared to the Detroit Pistons?
Obviously, if Grant Hill had not suffered an injury a couple of months into the season, the Magic would have been a different team.
Gordon Giricek and Jacque Vaughn are not exactly on the level of Billups and Rip Hamilton, but they were not chopped liver either. Drew Gooden was a decent center. They also had another big name in six-time All-Star in Shawn Kemp, playing his final NBA season.
McGrady was in his prime at that point. Orlando has the best player on the floor for every game. It was enough for three of the first four games, but not in the end.
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Rivers now has a more positive record after the Toronto win. He is tied with Pat Riley for most series-clinching wins over 30 points with three.