All eyes are on the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers right now as they battle in Game 1 of their NBA Playoffs second-round series. Joel Embiid was forced to sit out this pivotal matchup, which means that the Sixers have to rely heavily on James Harden to carry them in this one against the mighty Celtics. Harden answered the bell in the opening quarter, but he did give Philly fans a proper scare when he went down after landing awkwardly on Marcus Smart's foot.

Smart appeared to have extended his foot under Harden to block off his landing zone during a 3-point attempt. Harden's left foot came down on Smart's foot, and the Sixers superstar immediately hit the deck after the play:

NBA Twitter wasn't at all pleased with Smart's antics, and the keyboard warriors are claiming that this was a dirty play from the Celtics stud:

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For what it's worth, Harden was still able to drain the triple amid his hot start in the opening period. The knock did not seem to bother him, with the former league MVP closing out the quarter with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. James is clearly being aggressive early on, and this is exactly what the Sixers need for him sans Embiid.

It was Jaylen Brown who kept the Celtics in front, though, going 6-of-7 for 14 points in a scorching-hot first-quarter performance. Brown went 2-of-3 from distance too, as he led the Celtics to a 38-31 lead after 12 minutes of action.

As expected, there has been no shortage of action in this one thus far.