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They did it again. Doc Rivers and the Philadelphia 76ers blew another lead, falling to the Celtics, who were driven by the virtually unstoppable Jason Tatum.
And while Tatum is breaking positive records by scoring the most points in Game 7 in NBA history, the 76ers are breaking negative ones.
Embiid became the only MVP in history who did not make it to the Conference Finals in his career, and Rivers became the coach that lost the most Game 7s, with 10 of them now on his resume.
However, Stephen A. Smith looks for the culprit for the defeat in James Harden, who played a disastrous game. So bad that Smith insists that The Beard should shave off his trademark beard to hide from the people on the streets of Philly.
"James Harden was so awful, so bad, he should actually shave his beard so he could hide his identity, that's how bad he was. I mean, it was really, really bad. I say that in all seriousness, I'm not joking. I worked in Philadelphia for 17 years. It was that bad. I'm telling you right now, it would be difficult for him to walk the streets. You don't do what you saw him do on Sunday afternoon in a Game 7," the renowned analyst claimed after the game on ESPN.
With 4 of 18 field goal attempts only going down and 4 turnovers, much more was anticipated of the league's recently named MVP. His partner in crime, Harden, on the other hand, managed to "surpass" that performance with only three made shots from the field in 11 attempts, "bad enough" for 9 points.
With a miserable combined 24 points from their principally biggest stars, the 76ers could not compete with the highly motivated Celts in the wings of the audience in their TD Garden. Embiid and Harden utterly failed in the most crucial game of the season.
"You know how bad he had to be because Embiid, the reigning league MVP, was bad, and we didn't even mention him. That's how bad James Harden was. I'm talking bouncing the ball off your foot, I'm talking about just losing the ball, I'm talking about throwing the ball into the stands. I'm talking about EPICALLY BAD.This is a career defining bad," he concluded his rant.
The Philadelphia team's front office will likely have a busy offseason due to this unwelcome elimination. Speculations have already started, and head coach Doc Rivers appears to be the first on the list to be fired. Despite having a talented group, Rivers was unable to go past the Conference Semifinals.
Darryl Morrey and the aforementioned Harden, who was thought to be returning to the Rockets, are also in the mix. However, with this type of performance, his reputation is on the decline, and it remains to be seen which team would bite for the former league MVP.