Doc Rivers celebrated the 800th win of his career as the LA Clippers beat the Lakers on Saturday.
Blake Griffin scored 36 points and eight rebounds while Chris Paul added 29 as the Clippers moved to within one game of the Utah Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. After a strong start, the Clippers fell flat before holding off the Lakers to win 115-104 at the Staples Center.
Related: Clippers beat Lakers
The Clippers have now won three games in a row and seven of the last nine. This was also the Clippers’ 18th victory in the last 20 encounters against their Staples Center co-tenants.
The game will also be remembered as head coach Doc Rivers’ 800th win as a coach. The 55-year old started his coaching career with the Orlando Magic in 1999, where he coached for 4 years before moving to the Boston Celtics, coaching there for 9 years. Rivers joined the Clippers in 2013 and helped them to a franchise-record 57 wins in his first season in charge. He has a record of 213-111 at the Clippers. The Clippers have made the playoffs every year during his reign.
With his 800th win, Rivers became the 15th coach in NBA history to record 800 wins. Among active NBA coaches, only San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich (1,146) has more victories.
15th coach in @NBA History to reach 800 wins.
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 1, 2017
Congrats, @DocRivers! pic.twitter.com/aKkwi2rhMD
"Rivers said before the game, ‘‘What I’ve learned most as a coach is persistence and patience.’’ ‘‘Patience with the players and myself. As a young coach you have a tendency to overreact to everything and change everything. I’ve learned not to sweat everything.’’"
Doc Rivers now has an overall record of 800-584 with a win-loss percentage of .578. He won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 1999-00 and has one NBA Championship to his name (with the Boston Celtics in 2007-08).