Harden Taps Back in to MVP Form for Game 1

Without superstar 5-man Joel Embiid, the 76ers were able to steal a game in Boston via a vintage James Harden performance. Let's look back and dive into the specifics.

Game 1 of the Philly-Boston 2nd round series saw the Sixers stealing a game from the Celtics home court. As the two teams laid at the forefront of eastern championship contenders, alongside the now eliminated Bucks, the series is bound to be a classic, and has started off accordingly.

The immediate stand-out from last night’s showing is James Harden’s return to his MVP form. With 45 points on a blazing 70.84% true shooting percentage, Harden accounted for nearly half of the points scored from the Sixers’ starting lineup. Other notable performances include Tyrese Maxey’s 26 point game, an outing that breaks his Boston cold streak, Tobias Harris with an efficient 18/5/3, and Paul Reed’s 10/13/2/1/1 game.

Boston, on the other hand, sustained the high level of play that we are used to seeing from them, barring a handful of crucial turnovers. Jayson Tatum showed why many voters had him as the 4-spot candidate for MVP, posting an ultra efficient 39/11/5 game on 14/25 shooting from the field. Jaylen Brown also had himself an efficient night, scoring 23 points at 80% on an admittedly perplexing 10 shots taken throughout the game. While every starter was efficient from a scoring perspective, it was the combined 15 turnovers from the starting unit that eventually spelled doom for Boston.

Philly’s win in Boston came as a surprise to many, as their 4 regular season matchups saw all but one game go to the team in green -- with the only Sixers win coming by way of a Joel Embiid 52-piece. Moreover, the Celtics are notoriously hard to beat in their home arena, posting a tied conference best 32-9 when playing at the TD Garden.

Without Embiid, the Sixers still boast an impressive 12-5 record, though none of the teams are at the same stage of contendership as Boston. Many bettors might have foreseen a big game coming from Tyrese Maxey, as his averages in games without the superstar center jump to 28.9ppg/3.5rpg/5.0apg on 50.2/44.4/84.9 shooting splits. It was instead Harden that came to play, even though his scoring typically suffers without the big man on the court.

Overall, the series has already subverted many expectations as far as Philly’s success goes, but the Sixers will need to stay poised if they are to stop Boston from equalizing and taking 4 games.