James Harden was the hero for the Philadelphia 76ers in their unexpected Game 1 victory against the Boston Celtics in their NBA Playoffs second-round series. Without Joel Embiid, the Sixers were fully expected to lose Game 1 at the TD Garden. But thanks to Harden's 45-point explosion, it was Philly who escaped with a win in the series opener.
As it turns out, Harden was coming off a bit of R&R prior to the start of the series. After sweeping the Brooklyn Nets in the first round, Philly had some time to kill before the Celtics series started. Apparently, Harden thought it was a good idea to go to Las Vegas for a bit of a vacation.
He asked permission from Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, who surprisingly, didn't mind giving Harden some time off right smack in the middle of the playoffs:
“It’s funny,” Rivers said, via Steve Bulpett of Heavy Sports. “James called me before he went, and I was like, ‘So what? Do it.’ Dennis Rodman went to Vegas. They asked me about it, and I said, ‘We had three days off.’ I told them to do whatever they want. He’s a grown man. I didn’t care.”
Rivers did say that he reminded Harden not to hit anybody while he was in Vegas. But other than that, he could pretty much do anything he wanted.
For context, Dennis Rodman once left the Chicago Bulls during the NBA Finals to go on a Vegas trip. That controversial incident took on a life of its own, and understandably so, to the point that it has now been made into a full movie.
Harden's Vegas vacation wasn't exactly parallel to that of Rodman, but there are definitely some similarities to it. For Doc Rivers, though, it just wasn't a big deal. At this point in his career, the Sixers coach has learned to be a bit more carefree.
“Oh, yeah, I would have overreacted to that, all of it,” Rivers said of how a younger Doc would have handled this situation. “But, you know, it’s funny to think about it now. Just years of coaching adults and watching ‘The Last Dance,’ all that stuff doesn’t seem as big. You just get older and more experienced, man. And you know what I’ve learned? Some guys are who they are. Let ’em be that.”
At the end of the day, the trip paid dividends for Harden, and he came out with one of his best playoff performances ever in Game 1. In this case, all's well that ends well.
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