Sixers coach Doc Rivers on facing the Clippers in Los Angeles for the first time since they fired him

LOS ANGELES — Having coached Thursday in the Staples Center will make Saturday’s visit to the building Doc Rivers called home the past seven seasons a little easier.

He’ll pass by the same facility employees that he chatted with before his 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers.

But Saturday is definitely going to have a different feel.

This time, Rivers will be there to face the Los Angeles Clippers, who fired him on Sept. 28.

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He was let go after the Clippers failed to live up to lofty expectations. They were favored to reach the Western Conference finals after the offseason acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Clippers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the second round after holding a 3-1 lead in the best-of-the-seven series.

Rivers had successful regular seasons with the team but had been criticized for postseason collapses. Rivers was 3-8 in potential series-clinching games with the Clippers, and they twice blew 3–1 series leads.

But he had played a big part in the Clippers’ high expectations.

“My stint with the Clippers, I really believe helped change that franchise,” he said. “When you hear that name now, you don’t think bad things. You think good things.

“That was one of my goals, and the other goal was to win a title. So I was 1-for-2.”

Rivers has compiled a 975-694 regular-season record, in stops with the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Clippers, and the Sixers. He’s in 10th place on the NBA all-time wins list. He was the NBA coach of the year in 2000 with the Magic. Eight years later, he led the Celtics to the NBA title.

With the Clippers, he had a 356-208 mark, with the top winning percentage (.631) in franchise history.

Los Angeles acquired Rivers in June 2013 in a trade with the Celtics for a 2015 first-round draft pick. He was named coach of the Clippers and senior vice president of basketball operations. Rivers led the Clippers to a franchise-record 57 wins and the third seed in the Western Conference during his first season.

His toughest battle was keeping the team together after TMZ released an audiotape containing racially insensitive remarks by then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling during the first round of the 2014 playoffs.

Yet, the future Hall of Famer was the fall guy for last season’s playoff disappointment.

Clippers forward Paul George was critical of Rivers on the Dec. 2 All the Smoke podcast, saying there were no coaching adjustments after going up 3-1. George, who struggled mightily in the postseason, also said he wasn’t used properly.

“Hey, listen, I enjoyed coaching him,” Rivers said four days later of George’s comments. “So not a lot to say there. Ty Lue was sitting right next to me. So he better hope it’s not adjustments. It ain’t going to be much different.”

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Rivers chuckled while lightheartedly mentioning Lue, his close friend who succeeded him as coach, before continuing by saying: “Listen, we lost the game, and I think everybody needs to take ownership. [Me] obviously. We can always do better. Players can play better. So as far as I’m concerned, I’ll leave it there.”

But if this season is an indication, Rivers was far from the problem.

The Sixers (32-13) are in first place in the Eastern Conference and have the second-best record in the NBA. They have second-best overall record behind the Utah Jazz. And the Sixers have won 10 of their last 11 games. In eight of those games, the Sixers were without MVP candidate Joel Embiid.

Meanwhile, the Clippers (30-16) are third in the Western Conference and are riding a four-game winning streak. So Saturday’s matchup should be exciting.

“I made a lot of friends there,” Rivers said Thursday. “I made very few enemies. Hopefully none. ... I don’t know if people understand that when you come to Staples Center, the same workers work both games. And so for me, that’s what saying hi to all of them walking in today was fantastic.”

Thursday’s game at the Cleveland Cavaliers has been mentioned as a possible return date for Embiid, who was injured in the March 12 game at Washington. However, a source said no one really knows when he’ll return from bone bruise in his left knee due to having to reach “milestones” before being cleared to play.

As a result, the source added that the reality is that nobody really knows when he’ll return. The doctors want to be extra cautious before Embiid returns. That’s why the team doesn’t want to give a specific return date.

Meanwhile, the Sixers converted Paul Reed’s two-way contract to a standard deal, the team announced on Friday. The team also signed Mason Jones to a two-way deal.

Jones, a rookie shooting guard, was released from his two-way contract with the Houston Rockets on March 8.