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Sixers: Doc Rivers Joins Joel Embiid With Monthly Honor

Doc Rivers is the Eastern Conference's Coach of the Month.

Justin Grasso

Sixers: Doc Rivers Joins Joel Embiid With Monthly Honor
Sixers: Doc Rivers Joins Joel Embiid With Monthly Honor /
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Doc Rivers was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month on Thursday, the NBA announced. Rivers joins his star center Joel Embiid, who has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for January, which marked the second-straight month he earned the accolade.

Rivers helped coach the Sixers to a successful 11-3 record over the course of January. As a result, the Sixers have become one of the NBA’s hottest teams as they’ve begun to hit their stride lately.

With a Coach of the Month accolade for January, Rivers earns his 13th nod. It’s just the second time he’s been named the Coach of the Month while with the 76ers. 

Right now, the Sixers stand in third place in the Eastern Conference. With a 33-17 record, they are three games back from the top seed. The East is led by the Milwaukee Bucks, who have a half-a-game advantage over the Sixers, and the Boston Celtics, who are 37-15, sitting in first place. 

This season, Rivers has had quite the turnaround. After a slow start to the year, many wondered whether or not the Sixers had Doc Rivers on a hot seat as their plan to enter the 2022-2023 NBA season as contenders looked shaky at the start of the year.

Despite injuries taking key players off the court for an extended period of time within the first couple of months, the Sixers not only stayed in the Eastern Conference’s playoff picture, but they continued thriving while shorthanded.

Lately, the Sixers have been healthy as their key standouts, such as Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey, are back to playing again. As Maxey adjusts to his role coming off the bench, Harden continues to look like an All-Star, and Joel Embiid keeps on thriving as an MVP candidate; Doc Rivers and the Sixers are once again looking like one of the top teams in the East. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

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