James Harden nailed a three-pointer with a little less than 20 seconds left in overtime on Sunday afternoon, lifting the Philadelphia 76ers to a 116-115 win over the Boston Celtics in game four of an NBA Eastern Conference Semifinal series at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The best of seven is now tied 2-2.
Both teams held an early lead. Jaylen Brown scored 12 of the first 14 Boston points, but also had to go to the bench with 4:33 left in the opening quarter with two fouls. Philadelphia took advantage running off 10 straight unanswered in the final 3:19 to take a 27-19 lead to the second. Harden started red hot as he hit 7 of his first 8 from the floor and 2-2 from deep, and the 76ers took their biggest advantage of the series 47-33 on a jumper by Embiid with 4:59 to go in the first half. They later increased it to 16, as they took a 59-50 lead to the halftime break. Harden had 21 in the first 24 minutes, while Celtics star Jayson Tatum missed his first eight shots (a career playoff worse), finishing 1-8 for two points.
After Boston cut it to five early in the third quarter on a Tatum putback layup, it looked like Philadelphia was gonna put it away increasing their lead back to 16 on a Tyrese Maxey three-pointer. The Celtics continued to hang tough and trailed by seven entering the fourth. They would eventually tie it on a Tatum reverse layup with 5:25 left, and then took their first lead since it was 19-17 in the first quarter on a driving dunk by Al Horford at 98-96. They were up by five on a three-pointer by Malcolm Brogdon with 2:04 remaining, but a Harden driving layup and a three point play by PJ Tucker would even the score again. Marcus Smart put Boston back in front with two free throws with 51.3 seconds showing on the clock, but Harden came up big again with a floating jumpshot down the lane. Smart had a chance to win it in regulation, but missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer. Tatum gave the C’s their final lead with a step back three-pointer over Maxey with 38.1 seconds left in overtime. Harden hit the game winner from behind the arc in the far corner in front of the Philadelphia bench after they collapsed on Embiid in the lane. The last chance by the guests was a Smart three-pointer that went in, but after an official review the ball was still in the hands of Smart as the clock expired.
Harden, who had only 28 total points in the losses in games two and three (combined 5-28 shooting) after a 45 point game one victory, would finish with 42 points (16-23 from the floor, 6-9 three-pointers) with eight rebounds, nine assists, and four steals. Embiid was also very good as usual with a double double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists. Maxey chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds. For the second straight game, Boston put six players in double figures led by 24 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, and four blocks by Tatum after the very slow start. Brown had 23 points and five assists. Smart contributed 21 points and seven assists. Brogdon (19 points), Derrick White (12), and Horford (10) also chipped in. Brogdon added eight rebounds, while Horford filled up the stat sheet with seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and five blocked shots. Game five is back in Boston at TD Garden on Tuesday on 7:30 p.m.
Story by Chris Lessner/Highlight video courtesy of the NBA website
