76ers' Doc Rivers Calls James Harden a 'Magician' After 'Perfect' Game 5 vs. Celtics
Joel Embiid (33 points) and Tyrese Maxey (30 points) stole the proverbial headlines in Tuesday's 115-103 win over the Boston Celtics, a crucial victory that put the Philadelphia Sixers up 3-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
But very quietly, James Harden was superb, scoring 17 points to go along with 10 assists, eight rebounds, two steals and just two turnovers.
After the game, head coach Doc Rivers told reporters Harden was a "magician" in Game 5, saying he called a "perfect game" as the team's offensive decision-maker from his point guard position, comparing him to a catcher calling pitches behind the plate.
"He was aggressive early on when he needed to be aggressive," Rivers continued. "And then he kind of sat back and played and got everybody else involved. I thought he was unbelievable."
Harden only took eight shots on Tuesday night, making four, but he went 8-of-10 from the free-throw line and perfectly orchestrated the pick-and-roll with Embiid, continuously torching the Celtics with that particular action.
Rivers credited the team's spacing and cutting for making the pick-and-roll so effective in Game 5.
"We spaced better," he told reporters. "We've got to keep working on them. Because [Celtics defenders] just come from everywhere. We've just got to keep guys cutting and spacing. I thought it was our best cutting game."
It helped that on the other end the Celtics only shot 12-of-38 from three and were out-rebounded by the Sixers, 49-36. It seemed like a game the Sixers just wanted more.
But offensively, Philadelphia was also incredibly efficient, shooting 50.6 percent from the field. Embiid played like an MVP. Maxey was incredible and came up with several rally-quieting buckets.
And Harden pulled all the strings, orchestrating the offense at an incredibly high level. He led the Sixers to a pair of wins in this series with huge scoring nights—45 points in Game 1, 42 points in Game 2—but it was his tactical acumen and playmaking that paced Philly on Tuesday.
Now the Sixers have a chance to finally get back to the conference finals for the first time since Allen Iverson led them there—and eventually the NBA Finals, where they lost in five games to Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers—in the 2000-01 season.
If Harden continues to play at an elite level, this Philly bunch is going to be tough to beat.
