Vintage James Harden was the story in Boston on Monday night leading Philadelphia to an upset of Boston. Now the 76ers go for a commanding 2-0 series when they visit the Celtics in Game 2 of their second round NBA playoff series.
Game time is 8:00 p.m. ET at TD Garden where the Celtics are -10 point favorites. The total is 216.5.
Philadelphia 76ers (59-28, 1-0, 3rd seed)
Although they played without newly minted MVP Joel Embiid (knee), Philadelphia took the series opener 119-115. It was turn back the clock night for James Harden who scored a game-high 45 points and looked the Harden of old:
JAMES HARDEN ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
He has a playoff career-high 45 PTS pic.twitter.com/QHOJviHtEt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 2, 2023
Harden’s 45 points matched his career-high in a playoff game. He also scored 45 points when he played for Houston in a victory over Golden State in the 2015 Western Conference finals. Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points, Tobias Harris added 18 and De’Anthony Melton scored 17 off the bench.
It was after the game where Harden’s leadership skills took over. While his younger teammates were celebrating on the Boston parquet, he reminded them it’s just one game:
James Harden:
"It's 1 game bro. It's 1 game." 🗣️😤
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 2, 2023
Embiid’s status for Game 2 remains unchanged. He hasn’t played in Philadelphia’s last two games after injuring his knee in Game 3 of the team’s first-round series victory against the Brooklyn Nets. The team still lists him as doubtful with a sprained lateral collateral ligament in his right knee. Harden’s heroics bought more time for Embiid who likely won’t play until later in the series, if at all
Boston Celtics (61-28, 0-1, 2nd seed)
Boston got 39 points from Jayson Tatum and 23 from Jaylen Brown in the loss, but Harden alone outscored that Celtics duo 15-10 in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia was better down the stretch, ending the game on a 12-4 run. For his part, Tatum did most of his scoring in the 1st half:
HEAT CHECK.
Jayson Tatum has 24 PTS in the first half 🗣️
📺: TNT | Game 1 | PHI at BOS pic.twitter.com/MidogygxsW
— NBA (@NBA) May 2, 2023
The Celtics had a 66-42 advantage in points in the paint, but that wasn’t enough to overcome Harden’s 17-for-30 (56.7 percent) overall shooting performance.
Bottom Line
Despite losing the series opener the Celtics remain a healthy -190 favorite to move into the Eastern Conference finals. The Sixers number improved slightly to +170 with the stunning Game 1 result. Philly was able to pull off one of the biggest spread upsets in recent playoff memory (+10 underdogs) and it will be aiming to do it again. However, this is a Boston squad that hasn’t lost two games in a row since early March.
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