James Harden tied his profession playoff excessive by scoring 45 factors to assist the visiting Philadelphia 76ers defeat the Boston Celtics 119-115 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night time.
Harden made 17 of his 30 field-goal makes an attempt, together with 7 of 14 from behind the 3-point arc. It was the tenth playoff recreation by which Harden has scored no less than 40 factors.
Harden’s 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds to play gave the third-seeded 76ers a 117-115 lead. Jayson Tatum was known as for a foul on the following possession, after which Paul Reed capped the scoring by making two free throws with 4.6 seconds left. Philadelphia closed the sport with a 12-4 run.
The 76ers performed with out Joel Embiid, who sustained a sprained LCL in his proper knee throughout Game 3 of Philadelphia’s first-round sweep of Brooklyn. Embiid led the NBA by averaging 33.1 factors per recreation in the course of the common season.
Tatum led the second-seeded Celtics with 39 factors and 11 rebounds. Boston acquired 23 factors from Jaylen Brown, and 20 from Malcolm Brogdon.
Tyrese Maxey added 26 factors for the 76ers, who acquired 10 factors and 13 rebounds from Reed.
The Celtics made 17 of their 18 free-throw makes an attempt. Philadelphia was 12-for-12 from the free-throw line.
Boston trailed 19-13 halfway by way of the primary however went on an 11-0 run to take a 24-19 lead with 4:37 left within the quarter. The Celtics made 17 of their 20 pictures from the sphere within the interval and led 38-31 coming into the second. Boston linked on 14 of its first 15 area purpose makes an attempt.
The Celtics have been up 62-50 — their largest lead of the sport — with 3:31 to play within the second, however Philadelphia closed the primary half on a 13-4 run and trailed 66-63 at halftime.
The recreation was tied, 87-87, coming into the ultimate 12 minutes.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven collection can be performed Wednesday night time in Boston.
—Field Level Media/Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
