PHILADELPHIA — James Harden of the 76ers was on his option to Wells Fargo Heart on Sunday morning when he obtained a textual content message from his coach, Doc Rivers, that included a hyperlink to a gospel music, “You Know My Identify” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard. It was the primary time Rivers had despatched Harden a music. His curiosity was piqued.
“I inform my homies, ‘Let’s play the music,’” Harden recalled, including, “I let the entire music play, and I’m like, ‘All proper, it’s received to be some sort of good juju on this music.’”
It was not some random textual content, after all. The basketball-watching universe had spent about 36 hours dissecting Harden’s poor play prior to now two video games of the 76ers’ Jap Convention semifinal sequence with the Boston Celtics. The purpose of sending the music, Rivers stated, was to remind Harden of his identification.
“James needed to get himself again,” Rivers stated.
Positive sufficient, with 19 seconds left in time beyond regulation Sunday afternoon, Harden sank a baseline 3-pointer that lifted the 76ers to a 116-115 victory and evened the best-of-seven sequence at 2-2. Harden was good in Sport 4, ending with 42 factors, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 steals.
“Fairly frankly,” Harden stated, “at present was do or die.”
The 76ers have been a staple of the N.B.A. playoffs over the previous six seasons, making 5 appearances within the convention semifinals. However these second-round sequence are the place the highway has tended to finish for them. The final time they made the convention finals was in 2001, when Allen Iverson led them previous the Milwaukee Bucks and into the N.B.A. finals. (The 76ers wound up shedding in 5 video games to the Los Angeles Lakers.)
The collective persistence of Philadelphians appears to be carrying skinny. Earlier than Sport 3, when N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver offered 76ers heart Joel Embiid along with his first Most Priceless Participant Award, it was the achievement — on at the very least one degree — of the franchise’s dust-covered, team-building blueprint generally known as the Course of. With out entering into too most of the messy specifics, it concerned the crew enjoying abysmal basketball for a number of seasons whereas amassing a slew of prime draft picks, one in every of which they used to pick Embiid from the College of Kansas.
The problem for the 76ers, after all, is that the Course of was by no means about profitable particular person honors, although these are good. The mandate now, on gamers like Embiid and Harden, but in addition on Rivers and Daryl Morey, the crew’s president of basketball operations, is to vie for a championship. Embiid is 29. The 76ers traded for Harden final season. Earlier than Sport 4, Rivers was requested about his crew’s degree of urgency.
“Do I really want to reply that query?” he stated, laughing. “You labored on that query for 48 hours, and that’s what you got here up with? No matter excessive is, I’m going to imagine it’s excessive.”
Harden delivered. Early within the first quarter, he made a beeline to the basket and scored on a runner, playfully bopping the ball off his head after it fell by the ring. It was an indication of extra pyrotechnics to return.
None of it was straightforward. The 76ers gave up a 16-point third-quarter lead. Embiid completed with 34 factors and 13 rebounds, however struggled from the sector, capturing 11 of 26. And Jayson Tatum scored 22 of his 24 factors after halftime, almost main the Celtics to a crushing comeback victory. As a substitute, Harden shouldered the load for the 76ers.
“I’m all the time a competitor,” he stated. “I all the time need to win.”
Throughout the common season, Harden operated as a facilitator, averaging a league-best 10.7 assists per sport. He was neither the scoring nor the 3-point-shooting machine that he was in a former basketball life with the Houston Rockets. As a substitute, he fashioned a potent partnership with Embiid, the crew’s centripetal power. Every part and everybody revolved round Embiid, for good motive, together with Harden.
Sport 1 of the 76ers’ sequence with the Celtics upset that stability in an odd and surprising means. Embiid had sprained his proper knee late within the first spherical and was sidelined, which meant that Harden apparently felt obliged to board his private time machine and journey again to his gluttonous, ball-dominant days with the Rockets. He torched the Celtics, scoring 45 factors whereas capturing 7 of 14 from 3-point vary to steer the 76ers to a slender win.
Embiid was again within the lineup for Video games 2 and three, and instantly Harden appeared nearly too acutely aware of his teammate’s presence, too passive and deferential. It hardly helped that Jaylen Brown affixed himself to Harden for lengthy stretches. In these two losses, Harden shot a mixed 5 of 28 from the sector and a couple of of 13 from 3-point vary. Sport 3 on Friday was notably grotesque. Harden routinely handed up open photographs. When he did launch a 3-pointer early within the fourth quarter, he barely grazed the entrance of the rim. Quite a lot of followers expressed their displeasure.
“I believe with anybody, if you happen to’re not making photographs, you hesitate at occasions,” Rivers stated.
For his half, Harden defended his shot choice, telling reporters: “I’m fairly good on basketball instincts. I do know when to attain. I do know when to cross, so I’m fairly certain a whole lot of it was the proper play.”
On Saturday, the 76ers had a prolonged movie session at their follow facility. Rivers recognized clips from Sport 3 the place he felt the 76ers wanted to play with extra tempo, the place the Celtics outhustled them for rebounds and unfastened balls, and the place his gamers exhibited poor physique language. The Celtics, who superior to the N.B.A. finals final season and have renewed title aspirations of their very own, carried themselves otherwise.
“I believe the movie yesterday stated what we needed to be,” Rivers stated, “that they’re going to make a run, that we’re going to make a mistake. Issues aren’t going to go nicely, and simply maintain enjoying.”
On Sunday, the 76ers made loads of errors. Their offense stalled within the fourth quarter. They stopped transferring and settled for robust photographs. Harden, although, has playoff expertise, and he stated he was additionally impressed by the presence of John Hao, a scholar who survived the lethal capturing at Michigan State College in February. Harden and Hao linked over FaceTime.
Late in regulation, Harden’s runner over the Celtics’ Al Horford tied the sport, 107-107. And in time beyond regulation, Harden got here up with a key steal whereas defending Marcus Sensible. He appeared to have a relaxing affect on his teammates.
He additionally discovered himself with the ball in his fingers when it mattered most. He knew who he was.
