Historically, superstar James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers hasn’t played well during the NBA playoffs.
During his stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, and Brooklyn Nets, Harden failed to reach the postseason, resulting in his teams failing to live up to expectations.
However, this year looks a little different for Harden as he has made a showing through the playoffs so far while fellow superstar and NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid struggles through a knee injury.
As if Harden’s Game 1 performance against the Boston Celtics in the second round wasn’t impressive enough, he filled the stat list in Game 4 on Sunday even reaching the series at two games apiece via NBA Central.
James Harden today:
42 points
8 rebounds
9 helpers
4 steals
16/23 FG pic.twitter.com/ik2KhwC5Ik– NBACentral (TheNBACentral) May 7, 2023
Efficiency winner + game like elite game
– (feel LikeDrew) May 7, 2023
He scored 40 goals for them to win
– Sean (@SeanSniped) May 7, 2023
I missed this version of James Harden
– How (GloriousKev) May 7, 2023
Harden erased every doubt you had about him, going down 2-1 to Boston and dropping 42/8/9/4 on 15/21! You guys wanted him to perform for me when the pressure is the highest, here’s to you all. Top 20 best players of all time. A ring after this season will strengthen my position…
– Peter Osi (@PrincePeterOFC) May 7, 2023
Harden appears to be changing the narrative during the postseason while keeping the 76ers’ hopes of going as far as possible.
Despite Embiid’s strong performance, scoring 34 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, Harden stole the show, and Philadelphia needed everything they could get from the veteran guard on Sunday at home.
The 76ers managed to beat the Celtics in Game 4 by one point, a wild way to extend the series and avoid a 1-3 deficit.
If Philadelphia can keep getting performances like this from Harden during this second round series, the 76ers have a good chance of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Many pundits and fans wrote off Philadelphia after Embiid’s knee injury, but now it looks like the team is revitalized and ready to go far in this series and possibly beyond.
the next:
Joel Embiid has a message for James Harden about recent struggles