Harden's Three Pointer Lifts 76ers to Overtime Win Versus Celtics in Game Four
James Harden scored a game-high 42 points and he drained the game-winning three pointer from the right corner with 19 seconds remaining in overtime to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 116-115 game four win over the Boston Celtics. The series is tied 2-2 and shifts back to Boston for a pivotal game five. Harden shot 16-23 from the field, and he had a game-high nine assists plus eight rebounds, a game-high four steals, and one blocked shot. In the long, distinguished history of the 76ers franchise, there is a short list of players who had at least 40 points, at least five rebounds, and at least five assists in the same playoff game: Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson, and James Harden.
Harden was awful in the previous two games,
shooting a combined 5-28 from the field. He is obviously a talented,
All-Star caliber player, but elite level greatness is defined by
consistent high level production resulting in team success, not sporadic
glittering performances sandwiched around terrible games.
Joel Embiid scored 34 points, grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds, and passed for four assists--including the feed to Harden for the game-winning shot. Embiid was not credited with a blocked shot, but his presence in the paint anchored Philadelphia's defense. Embiid became noticeably fatigued down the stretch, which limited his effectiveness at both ends of the court: he became a step slower defensively, and he became a much more passive player offensively, though he still managed to make some key plays.
Tyrese Maxey was the only other 76er who scored in double figures (14 points).
All five Boston starters scored in double figures, as did Sixth Man of the Year Award winner Malcolm Brogdon (19 points). Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 24 points while also snaring a game-high 18 rebounds, dishing for six assists, and blocking four shots--but it was a tale of two halves for Boston's best player: he missed his first eight field goal attempts of the game (the worst such stretch at the start of any game in his playoff career), and he finished the first half with just two points on 1-9 field goal shooting. Tatum's slow start is a major reason that the Celtics trailed 59-50 at halftime and had to fight uphill for most of the game. Jaylen Brown scored 23 points on 10-16 field goal shooting. He was the only Celtic who made more than half of his field goal attempts, and when he had the ball he was the most aggressive and consistent Celtic throughout the entire course of the game; it was unfortunate for the Celtics that he did touch the ball often during the overtime, and that he did not attempt a single shot during the extra session.
Despite the Celtics' cold start and Harden's hot shooting, the Celtics battled all the way back from a 16 point deficit to take a 105-100 lead after Brogdon drained a three pointer with 2:04 remaining in regulation. NBA teams leading by five with two minutes or less remaining are overwhelming statistical favorites to win, but the 76ers tied the score less than one minute later after Harden scored on a drive and P.J. Tucker converted a putback plus a free throw to complete a three point play. Marcus Smart put the Celtics back on top by making a pair of free throws before Harden tied the game on a drive. The Celtics inbounded with 16.4 seconds remaining after Harden scored, and they elected to attack without calling a timeout, culminating with Smart missing a three pointer as time expired. Boston Coach Joe Mazzulla is being criticized for not using a timeout in that situation. Calling a timeout would have enabled the Celtics to advance the ball to midcourt without any time coming off of the clock and then run a set play--but it also would have permitted the 76ers to make situational substitutions and orchestrate a set defense. It is unlikely that the Celtics would have obtained a better shot after a timeout than the one that Smart took, and the Celtics executed that play to perfection in terms of leaving no time for the 76ers to shoot, ensuring that the Celtics would either win in regulation or fight for victory in overtime.
It would be more appropriate to question Boston Coach Joe Mazzulla's clock management and timeout usage at the end of the overtime session. After Harden's three pointer put the 76ers up by one point with 19 seconds remaining, the Celtics did not call a timeout and then proceeded to drain all of the time off of the clock without attempting a shot. Smart's three pointer for the win swished through the net, but he released the ball after time ran out. This late game scenario differed from what happened at the end of regulation because here the Celtics were trailing, which means that they could have used a timeout, advanced the ball to halfcourt before inbounding, run a set play for the game-winning shot attempt, and still had enough time left (plus one more timeout) to extend the game if they missed the shot and did not get the rebound.
Harden's game-winning shot happened because of another strategic breakdown: Brown left Harden alone in the corner to double team Embiid, giving Harden an open shot for three while the Celtics led by two; even if Embiid had scored against single coverage, the game would have been tied and the Celtics would have had the opportunity to go for a win. Brown's play was a very low percentage gamble at the worst possible time, and he admitted as much during his postgame media availability.
Modern day media coverage is focused on narratives and hot takes; it is fine to point out suboptimal plays and decisions, but it is not necessary or appropriate to draw sweeping conclusions based on one game. This game did not (1) redeem all of Harden's previous playoff failures, (2) prove that Tatum is not a great player, or (3) establish that Mazzulla is in over his head. It is possible that (1) Harden will play a major role in a championship run, (2) Tatum will demonstrate that he just cannot handle big moments, and (3) Mazzulla is not equipped to coach a championship team--but a game whose outcome was not determined until a three pointer was launched a fraction of a second after time expired is a flimsy hook upon which to attempt to support such definitive narratives. Harden has a full body of work to evaluate, Tatum is a young player who has already had many big playoff games and will presumably play in many other playoff games (including at least two more in this series!), and Mazzulla is in the process of completing his first full season at the helm.
A calm, rational observer understands that the Celtics still have the upper hand in this series by virtue of owning homecourt advantage, so it is too soon to conclude the narrative for this series--never mind writing the definitive evaluation of Harden, Tatum, or Mazzulla (though we do have a full career's worth of data on Harden, as long as he is still an active player he has a chance to alter his story and improve his legacy).
Labels: Boston Celtics, James Harden, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Marcus Smart, Philadelphia 76ers
posted by David Friedman @ 1:59 AM
12 Comments:
Hi David, great recap.
I did watch the game (Sunday games allow for a viewer in Central European Time zone to watch and not look like a zombie the day after at work).
Harden looked surprisingly decisive down the stretch. Embiid, as you highlighted, looked gassed. I thought Tatum played very well in the second half and down the stretch too. I liked his choice at the end of regulation; however, it appears to me that he should have taken the shot with the clock winding down in OT. But it couldn't have been a three, and not a dribble penetration either. That one should have been a mid-range pull-up, à la Kobe-MJ-KD, and I am not sure Tatum has it in his bag (not saying he can't shoot mid-range pull-ups overall - he definitely can; but in that situation, with only few seconds to make a decision and create a decently clean look, it looked like he did not even think of that possibility).
I never thought I would see Harden score 40+ points without at least 10 FTs. I hated watching him flail for foul calls. But I do have to give him credit for working on his midrange/floater game, along with being better at going to his right(off) hand. In the regular season, players usually get to do the thing they are best at, but in the playoffs, good teams will take away a player's strengths. We shall see how many more games Harden can shoot a high percentage with the Celtics locked in on his left hand and step-back 3.
Harden has been the best player in the series so far. 2 gems of games, and 2 duds. But interestingly, in his duds he still combined for 16 rebounds, 15 assists, only 5 turnovers(all in game 3, only 9 total for the series), and 19 FT attempts. So he's finding ways to contribute even when his shot is off. He got to the line a lot more in his off games than his 2 great games. He's been kinda high variance player for his career, which isn't ideal. But, basically willed his team to 2 wins already. Embiid needs to start playing like the MVP, and their cast has been subpar so far and needs to play a lot better if they're going to win this series.
Anonymous, the flailing is annoying, but everyone does it. Also, his flailing is usually already after his defender has fouled him. He's just selling the foul more. The NBA officials are the best in the world, but they still miss a lot. It's a skill to know how to draw fouls.
Harden has had 2 historically amazing games in a series of 4. they'd be worse off if he'd had 4 B-level games
Al fharidi:
Thank you!
I agree that in some situations it appears that Tatum either does not have the full repertoire of shots displayed by MJ/Kobe/Durant or else he does not have confidence in taking certain kinds of shots under pressure. He also seems overly susceptible to contact when he drives, which was a recurring theme during the 2022 NBA Finals.
Anonymous:
I am surprised not only by Harden's level of play in games one and four but also--as you alluded to--the manner in which he is scoring. I am skeptical that he will play at a high level for the rest of the series, but it will be interesting to see what happens. There is a large body of work suggesting that the series will conclude with Harden putting up something like 15 points on 4-12 field goal shooting with eight turnovers and 10 excuses, but he has the opportunity to upgrade his playoff resume by finishing this series strongly.
Anonymous:
If you look at the entire four game body of work, you could make a good case that Tatum has been the best overall player (24.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 4.8 apg, .472/.320/.840 shooting splits, compared to 28.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 7.5 apg, .469/.417/.889 shooting splits); Harden has had bigger highs and bigger lows than Tatum.
A lot of players flop and flail, but no one does it as much as Harden and no one is rewarded for it as much as Harden is.
Anonymous:
Harden made $33 million this season. Perhaps he cannot have four A games in a row (though that does not seem to be too much to ask), but two F games out of four is unacceptable. If the best he can do is two As and two Fs or four Bs, then perhaps he is overpaid and needs more help (which is pretty much what I have asserted about him for the past 10 years).
Not only would I argue that four B games from a max player is not good enough, I am not convinced that four B games would be less effective than two As and two Fs. It is not healthy for a team when a player who is expected to contribute in a certain way may erupt for 40 or may disappear for 10; that puts a lot of strain on the other players in terms of figuring out what they are expected to do from game to game. If the 76ers could rely on Harden to consistently be good, that would be better than not knowing if he is going to dominate or disappear.
Anonymous:
I don't follow your reasoning about game one, or about Tatum's play in general. Tatum's point totals in this series are 39, 7, 27, and 24 (and those totals roughly approximate his overall impact in each game, so I am just using those numbers as shorthand for how to appropriately "grade" him). Boston won game two so easily that Tatum only played 19 minutes, so his seven point game did not hurt the Celtics (and Tatum had a +24 plus/minus number in game two).
Harden's point totals in this series are 45, 12, 16, and 42. His subpar performances in games two and three were a major reason for those losses.
In short, Tatum's one bad game did not hurt his team, but Harden's two bad games hurt his team.
Harden's flop and flail style is effective, at least in the regular season, because referees let him get away with it. It is not skillful basketball. Harden is much less skilled at basketball than any other player who has posted comparable statistics and achieved comparable accolades.
You are correct that Harden is not technically a max player at $33 million. He is "only" the 33rd highest paid player out of more than 500 players who received an NBA salary this season. I guess time will tell if that qualifies as a "steal." If I wrote those checks, two F games out of four in the second round would not meet my expectations.
You are correct that Westbrook was overpaid this season relative to the role the Lakers assigned to him.
We can agree to disagree about the great value that Harden provided so far in this series with two A games and two F games. We will have at least two more data points to consider, and it will be fascinating to see how Harden grades out in those games. Do you believe that Harden will have fulfilled the team's expectations by leading the league in assists and having at least two F games (with more possibly on the way) in the second round, particularly if the 76ers once again lose in this round? If so, you have different expectations of an allegedly great player than I do.
"Tatum's point totals in this series are 39, 7, 27, and 24 (and those totals roughly approximate his overall impact in each game, so I am just using those numbers as shorthand for how to appropriately "grade" him)."
but Dangelo Russell scores 20+ in a game and you say it's irrelevant
-- Anonymous from comment about Harden / 4 B games
Anonymous:
Did you miss or misunderstand the words "those totals roughly approximate his overall impact in each game"? I included those words for a reason: there is a difference between just scoring 20 points while providing little other value (or even being a net negative in other areas), and being an elite, all-around player.
When Russell becomes a 6-10 two-way player who gets 18 rebounds in a playoff game, can run the offense, and who can check multiple positions, let me know and I will provide a longer answer.
Different anonymous here,
Harden is probably a little better than the 33rd best player in the league. I say that as no fan of is, but about 60-75% of a max deal is probably about "right" for him.
It is at least not an awful contract, compared to plenty of alleged "max" players throughout the NBA whose teams are not even in the playoffs.
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