Doc Rivers Plays Epic April Fools Joke After Celtics Loss

Following the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rivers played an April Fools joke on reporters.

Doc to us reporters after the game — “I really like you guys…April Fools!”

— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) April 2, 2013

Rivers can often be seen looking like a stone-faced killer while ambling his way up and down the sideline, but to consider him dead inside would be an exaggeration. That said, a light-hearted jab at the media isn’t what you would expect from Doc. An actual jab (or right hook) to the jaw of a reporter posing an unflattering question would seem more likely. Especially after a loss.

Still, River was surprisingly upbeat after the loss in Minny. He even praised his team’s effort (via Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com):

I go into every game thinking we’re going to win the game,” Rivers said afterward. “We had our chances tonight. But I get it, too. I just want us to play the right way and do things our way. I think overall, we did that.”

…

“I thought we played pretty hard,” Rivers said. “We had no one to deal with that big monster they had down there. I was kidding with Longo [defensive coach Mike Longobardi], we held him to about eight points in the second half after he had 21 in the first [half].”

That just seems so un-Doc like. This is the same man who suggested the Celtics needed to blow it up earlier in the season. After watching Boston lose seven of the last nine, you’d expect to see a similar reaction. Or, you know, at least not this one.

Depletion through injury may have softened Rivers, though. Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger are done for the year, and Kevin Garnett hasn’t returned to action just yet. There’s also Boston’s playoff outlook to consider. The team isn’t endanger of falling outside the Eastern Conference’s top eight, so there’s no need for Rivers to berate his team, especially if he was impressed by their effort.

Even so, the Celtics had an opportunity to move up from seventh place not too long ago. Now, they find themselves three games behind the sixth-place Chicago Bulls and just 1.5 games ahead of the eighth-place Milwaukee Bucks. Rising in the standings no longer seems feasible, but dropping just that one spot does. And it could spell Boston’s postseason doom.

Why? The difference between seventh and eighth place is minor, insignificant even, right?

Wrong. It’s actually the difference between a first-round matchup with the New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers, and the Miami Heat. I don’t care how impressive the Celtics have been against the Heat this season, you don’t want to face LeBron James and crew at all, let alone in the first round. So this loss is really no laughing matter.

And yet, we’re borderline jovial after it. Doc’s sense of humor is infectious.

Is it also win-inspiring?

We’ll just have to wait and see.