The Philadelphia 76ers came into Game 4 of their second round series of the NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics facing a must-win situation. With the prospect of dropping to a 3-1 deficit and having to go back to the Celtics homecourt for Game 5, the Sixers simply could not afford to drop Game 4. Fortunately for them, James Harden was up to the challenge. With a monster performance, Harden willed the Sixers to the 116-115 victory to tie the series up at two games apiece.
Not only that, but he also became only the fourth guard to have over 10 games of 40+ points in the NBA Playoffs joining Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Jerry West as per the Twitter page StatMuse.
Guards with over ten 40-point playoff games:
Michael Jordan
Jerry West
Kobe BryantAnd now, James Harden. pic.twitter.com/1qWsqjPFzu
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 7, 2023
James Harden finished Game 4 with a game-high 42 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and four steals and one blocked shot. He shot 16-23 from the field, 6-9 from three-point range and he knocked down all of his free-throws. Even better, he drained the game-winner in OT that doomed Boston.
It was nice bounce-back for Harden who didn't shoot particularly well in the Sixers Game 3 loss.
Coming into Sunday's game, Harden had been averaging 20.3 points per game, 5.6 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.3 steals with shooting splits of 36 percent shooting from the field, 38.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 85.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. The shooting percentage is lowest percentage Harden has shot in the playoffs throughout his career. It's also the only time in the playoffs that he's shot better from three-point range than overall.
With the series now shifting back to the Celtics homecourt, Harden is going to need to channel his inner Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to try and take control of the series.
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