After James Harden logged back-to-back duds in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Doc Rivers did his part to help the 76ers star enter Sunday afternoon’s game with confidence.
Harden kicked off Philadelphia’s best-of-seven series with Boston on the highest of notes, but he responded with a combined 28 points on a dismal 5-for-28 from the floor between Games 2 and 3. The 76ers needed Harden to be better in Game 4 if they wanted to even the series, so Rivers shot the 2018 MVP an ego-booster before tipoff at Wells Fargo Center.
“I sent him a gospel song,” Rivers told reporters after Philadelphia’s 116-115 overtime win, per ESPN. “The title of it is, ‘You Know My Name?'”
Harden certainly looked like his vintage self in what might have been a season-saving win for the 76ers. The 10-time All-Star poured in a game-high 42 points, the last three of which were scored on what proved to be a game-winning bucket from the corner with 18.2 seconds left in the extra frame.
The star guard made sure to salute Rivers after his standout showing.
“I’m on my way to the game, and I get a text from Doc,” Harden told reporters. “It’s a gospel song, and I’m like, ‘All right, whatever.’ So, I just tell my homies, ‘Let’s play the song.’ It’s a seven-minute song, but I let the whole song play.
“I was like, ‘All right, there’s got to be some kind of good juju in this song, or however he’s feeling, I want to feel like that.’ And I guess it worked.”
Considering how Sunday’s game played out, Rivers might want to tap into his playlist again before Tuesday night’s tilt at TD Garden.
