The Philadelphia 76ers scored an very important victory on Tuesday evening in opposition to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 in their second-round sequence, successful 115-103. In only a few days, the Sixers went from trailing 1-2 in the sequence to being up 3-2, with an opportunity to near issues out at house in Game 6 on Thursday.
In the procedure, James Harden achieved a vital milestone through surpassing Wilt Chamberlain for 20th position on the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring list. Harden’s scorecard now reads 3,615 profession playoff issues, and he’s simplest 27 issues in the back of Scottie Pippen in 18th position. Depending on how some distance the Sixers’ playoff run is going, shifting as much as the top-15 this season isn’t out of succeed in; Hakeem Olajuwon recently holds that spot with 3,755 issues.
The ancient bucket got here with 10:49 left to play in the moment quarter, as Harden exploited a display screen to move his means into the lane and hit a mid-range jumper.
Although Harden did not rating just about up to he did in Game 4, he did not want to because of the Sixers’ function gamers stepping up. Nonetheless, he nonetheless controlled to complete with 17 issues, 8 rebounds, and ten assists and helped regulate the recreation’s tempo together with his pick-and-roll gameplay.
While Harden’s playoff struggles had been well-documented, they’re basically about singular video games and moments than total manufacturing. Despite getting (rightfully) criticized all through his profession, he hasn’t ever overlooked the playoffs and averages 22.9 issues in his 158 video games. Those numbers are even skewed through his preliminary 3 seasons when he got here off the bench for Oklahoma City Thunder.
The just right news for Harden is that he now has his absolute best probability but to conquer his playoff woes. He has already hit two game-winners on this sequence by myself and has the Sixers inside of one recreation of the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001. Should they organize to near out the Celtics, they’re going to be the favorites in opposition to both the Miami Heat or New York Knicks.