The 76ers secured a road playoff win Monday night without their best player, but James Harden isn’t letting complacency drift into Philadelphia’s locker room.
Joel Embiid was sidelined for the Sixers’ Eastern Conference semifinal opener against the Celtics, but they nonetheless managed to notch a 119-115 win at TD Garden. This was largely due to Harden, who scored a game-high 45 points including a game-winning 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds to play.
Although Philly was a significant underdog for Game 1, Harden and company didn’t buy into that status.
“We didn’t come into the game expecting to lose,” Harden told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “We are here to win. Even after the game, I told these guys ‘Don’t get too happy.’ We’re even-keeled. We’re coming to get Game 2 as well. That’s the mindset we have as a unit, and whether Joel comes back or not, we’ll be ready to go. Obviously, he’s huge, he’s everything for this team, but whoever is on the floor is going to win the game and that’s what we did tonight.”
It probably was wise of Harden to quickly try to get the 76ers mentally prepared for Game 2. Philadelphia very well could encounter a different animal Wednesday night, as the Celtics will be trying to “send a message” to their longtime rival before the series shifts to the City of Brotherly Love.
