How James Harden ‘Surprised’ Al Horford In Celtics-76ers Game 1

James Harden looked like the James Harden of old Monday night at TD Garden.

With Joel Embiid sidelined, the 76ers turned to Harden to lead the way in their Eastern Conference semifinal series opener against the Celtics. And the 2018 league MVP delivered, scoring a game-high 45 points in Philadelphia’s 119-115 win at TD Garden. Three of those points came on arguably the biggest shot of the game, which saw Harden knock down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds to play.

Al Horford was tasked with manning up Harden in that high-pressure moment. While the Celtics big man was mostly pleased with his defense, he admitted that Harden did catch him a little off guard.

“Try to guard him as best as I could and he probably surprised me how quick he shot the ball,” Horford told reporters, per MassLive. “I figured he would have tried to spend a little more time before going. But I felt like I was right there, contested.

“You’ve got to be careful with him because you can’t really contest him because he always kicks his legs. That’s one of the things he does. For me it’s a good learning experience there and knowing how I’d handle it next time if I’m in that position.”

Harden and the 76ers now have a great deal of momentum going into Game 2 at TD Garden. Conversely, Horford and the Celtics will try to “send a message” to their longtime rival Wednesday night before the best-of-seven series shifts to Philly.