Doug Collins wants nothing less than a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals – NBA News
Anyone would say that the Philadelphia 76ers have had an amazing season and win or lose on Friday, they deserve a pat on the back.
Well, Sixers coach Doug Collins is not buying that.
“No, I'm not going to give them that out. No, I want more. I want more. We're going to get greedy, and we want more. We've fought, we've worked, and we've gone through a lot as a team” said Collins.
The Philadelphia 76ers have done a fantastic job to say the least this year in the playoffs. The Sixers were a strong team at the start of the season, but fell mid way and ended up at the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference,
barely making it to the Playoffs.
However, once they got there, they kicked their game up a few notches and defeated the Chicago Bulls, who were the top seed in the Eastern Conference. That had them moving into the 2nd round to face the mighty Boston
Celtics. And the Sixers have the series tied at 3 games apiece with game 7 Friday in Boston.
“Our mindset is, I don't want to go into (Game 7) with, 'No matter what happens, everything's OK.' I want to go in with the idea of, 'Let's see what we can do do; Let's see if we can get us a win” added Collins.
Collins believes the Sixers have the ability and talent to defeat the Celtics in game 7 and move to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000-2001 when Allen Iverson was a guard for the Sixers and led the team
to an Eastern Conference Championship. He was in the arena in game 6 in Philadelphia where he delivered the game ball to a standing ovation by the crowd.
The Sixers played some inspired basketball in game 6 and showed a great deal of mental toughness to handle the pressure of an elimination game and come out with the victory.
"I think we missed nine straight shots in the second quarter, missed five free throws at the half, and had the turnovers -- but our defence gave us a chance” said Collins.
Collins showed the Sixers a video of game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals before their game 6 victory to motivate his young crew.
The game was played between the Philadelphia 76ers led by Julius Erving, against the Boston Celtics led by Larry Bird. The Sixers had come back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the series and then won game 7 in one of the most remembered
Eastern Conference Finals of all time. Collins believes his team can do it one more time, and reach the Eastern Conference Finals this year.
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