Joel Embiid, Sixers celebrate Doc Rivers' 1,000th win after beating Bulls

When the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers had just wrapped up a game where he secured his 999th win. Crazy enough, Rivers' next opportunity to pick up win No. 1,000 was in his hometown of Chicago on Saturday night as Philly was set to face the Bulls. 

The circumstances were unfortunate for Rivers and the Sixers. They didn't have the three-time All-Star, Ben Simmons, as he remains out of the lineup due to personal reasons. Tobias Harris, Isaiah Joe, and Matisse Thybulle are all in the NBA's health and safety protocol due to COVID-19-related setbacks.

Danny Green, who's been dealing with hamstring tightness, hasn't played since Monday and was ruled out late on Saturday night. The Sixers were forced to call up two members of their G League affiliate to add to their eight available players on Saturday night.

Considering they were playing a red-hot Bulls team that likely wanted redemption in their own house on Saturday, it seemed like the Sixers had a much higher chance of coming up short and delaying Rivers' big win for another game.

But one thing we've learned about the 2021-2022 Sixers is that no matter what the circumstances are, they have a chance to come out on top with a win. And they did just that on Saturday night.

Joel Embiid and Furkan Korkmaz combined for 57 points on Saturday. They helped lead the Sixers to a gutsy victory as Philly topped the Bulls 114-105. It seemed unlikely to happen in the beginning, but Doc Rivers secured win No. 1,000 in his hometown of Chicago on Saturday night, and the way he did it meant a lot to him.

"I don't count," admitted Rivers after the game. "That's not why I do it, and this win being short-handed, being in Chicago means a lot. It also means I'm very lucky. When I go back and look at the coaching staff that I've had and all the players, wins like tonight, obviously, winning the title is great, but wins like tonight is why you coach. When you're just piecemealing it together, and the guys are pulling together. We did it in Detroit, we did it in the last Chicago game, and we did it again tonight. These are the games when you sit back and think about special wins. These are the ones that are really special."