“James Harden Scores 42 Points to Lead Philadelphia 76ers to Victory Against Boston Celtics”

James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers during Sunday’s game against the Boston Celtics. External source

Boston (USA), May 7 (EFE).– With a triple in overtime with 19 seconds to go, James Harden, who shone with 42 points, drove the Sixers in Philadelphia this Sunday in a disputed victory against the Boston Celtics (116-115) to tie this semifinal 2-2 from the east.

Harden, who scored 45 points in the first game of the series but only added 28 in the following two, also contributed 8 rebounds and 9 assists.

The bearded point guard was accompanied by Joel Embiid, who had 34 points and 13 rebounds.

For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum only scored 2 points in the first half but woke up after the break and finished with 24 points, 18 rebounds and 6 assists.

They also stood out in the visitors Jaylen Brown (23 points); Marcus Smart (21 points and 7 assists), whose three-pointer on the buzzer to win the game in overtime was late by tenths; and the Dominican Al Horford, excellent in defense against Embiid and who also added 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocks.

TATUM’S POOR START

Brown made his team’s first 10 points and, after Derrick White’s layup tackle, hung from the rim to nail a great start for Boston.

Embiid replied on the premises. Several hits by Embiid at the end of the first quarter, in which he added 12 points, left the score with the locals 8 up at the end of a very low scoring run (27-19).

In the first minutes of the second quarter, both teams gave away an exhibition of triples (two from Smart and one from Malcolm Brogdon for the Celtics and two from Harden and one from Georges Niang for the Sixers).

When reaching the middle of the second segment, Tatum was the only starter on his team who had not yet scored despite having already attempted 7 shots.

Brogdon, who coming off the bench hit three triples and 13 points in the quarter, was the only scorer for the Celtics during 7 minutes of play.

In this scenario, Harden became enormous, leaving behind the doubts of the last two games and taking a step forward with 15 points and a 3 of 3 three-pointer in the second quarter.

Tatum finally made his debut with a mid-range shot with half a minute to go before halftime, and Horford, with a triple one second before the horn sounded, prevented the Sixers’ advantage, which had reached a 16-point difference. , will exceed double digits (59-50).

HARDEN PLAYS LIKE MVP

Tatum made the first two baskets of the third quarter promising an awakening, but Harden, playing as in his best moments, and Embiid kept the Sixers with a comfortable lead (78-63 with 6.02 left).

In any case, Tatum had already seized the Celtics’ helm by then and, with 13 points in that third period, allowed his team to reach the fourth quarter with options (92-83).

A dunk by White after two minutes of scoring drought for both teams at the beginning of the final quarter claimed for the Celtics that the game was still open (92-85).

So much so that, with two 3-pointers from Smart and Brown and a basket from the past ring by Tatum, the Bostonians tied the match (96-96) with still 5 minutes to play.

In the first 8 minutes of the decisive set, the Sixers only scored 4 points.

In this stretch of growth for Boston, Horford stood out, fantastic in his defense of Embiid with several blocks and who also signed a fantastic dunk.

With the Sixers minus-2 and less than half a minute left, Harden tied the score with a drive and then Smart couldn’t avoid overtime by missing a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

In overtime, Tatum hit his only three-pointer of the game with 38 seconds remaining (113-115) but Harden answered him with another three-pointer, from the corner and a pass from Embiid, which sealed Philadelphia’s victory after the refs confirmed that a 3-pointer that Smart had hit on the buzzer had been out of time.