"That's why they play the games" is a cliche, but cliches exist because they contain at least a kernel of truth. "No Embiid, No Chance" may have seemed to be a likely headline for game one of the Boston-Philadelphia second round series, but James Harden and the 76ers had other ideas: Harden tied his playoff career-high with 45 points--including 15 in a nip and tuck fourth quarter--as the 76ers swiped homecourt advantage from their longstanding Eastern Conference rival. The Celtics and 76ers have faced each other in the playoffs more often than any other two teams in NBA history. On paper, the Celtics had the advantage even before it was announced that a knee injury would force MVP candidate Joel Embiid to miss at least the first game. The Celtics built a 12 point first half lead, but they never put the game away, and the 76ers closed the game out with a 5-0 run: Harden drilled a three pointer to put the 76ers up 117-115 with 8.1 seconds remaining, and then Paul Reed hit two free throws after stealing Boston's inbounds pass.
I almost fell out of my chair listening to Harden's on-court post-game interview. Asked about his performance, Harden said with a straight face that he does this all the time and that is why he shot the game-winning three pointer with confidence. In case you forgot--and Harden clearly forgot--Harden averaged 17.3 ppg while shooting .343 from the field versus the Nets in the first round, he had shot better than .450 from the field once in his past 10 playoff games, and just three times in his first 16 playoff games as a 76er. Prior to this game, Harden had scored at least 30 points once in his previous 20 playoff games, and he scored less than 20 points in 12 of those games. If Harden had been given truth serum before the interview, he would have said, "I don't know why I shot that shot with confidence, because I have played poorly in the playoffs for so long I had every reason to think that I would miss the shot."
In all seriousness, Harden deserves credit for playing very well when his team needed a lift in Embiid's absence. His post-game comments may demonstrate a blissful lack of self-awareness, but--regardless of his state of mind or his elevated opinion of himself--no one can deny that he got the job done not only in terms of volume but also efficiency, shooting 17-30 (.567) from the field. How unusual is that field goal percentage for Mr. "I do this all the time"? The last time that he shot .567 or better from the field in a playoff game was 11 playoff games ago--and to find the previous occurrence before that you have to go back another 10 games, to when he was a Houston Rocket.
Speaking of doing things all the time, the Celtics are developing a habit of permitting inefficient volume scorers to have big playoff games against them; they lost their previous home playoff game (game five of their first round series versus the Atlanta Hawks) after Trae Young dropped 38 points on them, though they did hold him to 14-33 (.424) field goal shooting in that contest.
The Celtics squandered a 2-1 lead versus the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals before losing that series in six games, and since that setback they have vowed that they are on a mission to complete this season with a championship, but they sometimes seem to lose focus in the middle of the mission. The Celtics should be able to beat the 76ers even if Embiid plays, but at best they have needlessly prolonged this series, which could be costly down the road--and, at worst, they may have given an inferior team just enough confidence to pull off the upset. After the eighth seeded Miami Heat took the lead in the first round versus the Milwaukee Bucks they never fell behind in the series, even after Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from his back injury and put up big boxscore numbers.
Tyrese Maxey (26 points), Tobias Harris (18 points), and De'Anthony Melton (17 points) provided plenty of support for Harden. As Boston's Sixth Man of the Year Award winner Malcolm Brogdon said after the game, the Celtics could withstand Harden having a big game if they had "shut off the water" for some of Philadelphia's other players.
Jayson Tatum (39 points on 14-25 field goal shooting with 11 rebounds and five assists) did his part for the Celtics, but Jaylen Brown had a quiet 23 points: he attempted just 10 shots for the entire game, and he only scored seven points in the second half with the outcome in the balance. The Celtics committed 16 turnovers while the 76ers only committed six turnovers, and that disparity contributed to the 76ers launching 89 field goal attempts compared to the Celtics' 75 field goal attempts.
The Celtics' problems are correctable: play harder, be more careful with the ball, have more game plan discipline defensively. TNT's Kenny Smith is correct that championship teams sometimes have bad playoff games during their title runs. For that reason, one should not overreact to this game--but if the Celtics are truly committed to their stated mission, they will display a different disposition and a different energy level from the start of game two until the final buzzer sounds.