James Harden may have scored 45 points and made the winning shot in his Philadelphia 76ers’ 119-115 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series on Monday, but he was not celebrating.
Harden helped carry his team as Joel Embiid was out due to a knee injury. The 33-year-old went 17/30 and made 7/14 three-pointers in the win. Take a look at the winning 3-pointer he made:
JAMES HARDEN ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
He has a playoff career-high 45 PTS https://t.co/QHOJviHtEt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 2, 2023
Despite making that shot and winning the game, Harden didn’t have the type of reaction you might expect. He waved off his teammates and tried to direct them to the locker room, reminding them that they had only won one game.
Take a look at the videos of him:
"It's 1 game, bro. It's 1 game."
James Harden knows the job isn’t finished 😤pic.twitter.com/T33fMshqjU
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 2, 2023
James Harden told the Sixers to go to the locker room after their win 👀 https://t.co/UqbSwsZB09
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 2, 2023
That’s a veteran move and the kind of attitude the Sixers need. They’re going to need to keep getting those kinds of performances in order to win a seven-game series with the Celtics especially considering Embiid’s status.
In addition to Harden’s big game, De’Anthony Melton made five of his six three-point attempts, and Tobias Harris scored 18 points.
