James Harden assesses Sixers after big Game 5 road win over Celtics
BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers stand one win away from the Eastern Conference finals after they defeated the Boston Celtics, 115-103, in Game 5 on the road on Tuesday. It was yet another feather in the cap for this team as they continue to show off their toughness in this series.
The Sixers have won two games on the road in this series and they will have a chance to close out their rivals on Thursday at home.
Joel Embiid had 33 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, but James Harden was magnificent on the night as well. The Beard had 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while only committing two turnovers.
“We’re a good team,” Harden said. “We control what we can control and tonight (Tuesday) was one of the things — that was our mindset coming into this game. Like we control our own destiny and whether it’s Joel coming back in Game 2 or the Game 3 loss, that’s past us. We find things to get better at every single day.”
Every day, the Sixers have been working to get better. They have been coming together as a team and that work has been evident on the floor in this series. The Celtics haven’t looked like themselves because the Sixers are throwing them out of wack throughout the series to work toward one common goal.
“Watch film, we communicate with each other, and we go out there and try to be better for each other and as a team that’s trying to compete for something special,” Harden continued. “That’s all you can ask for. Unselfish like we know who we are. We know, obviously, we have the MVP on our team, and everybody else is just kind of figuring it out.”
Whatever the Sixers have asked of Harden, he has delivered. He has been an elite playmaker during the season and in the playoffs, but he has also been the ruthless scorer when needed.
“Whether that’s me scoring the basketball or that’s me facilitating or whether that’s me a little bit of both and then everybody just figures it out,” he added. “So tonight (Game 5) was a prime example of that.”
The Celtics are not just going to lie down. They have been in plenty of situations such as this one. They are going to give Harden and the Sixers a battle on Thursday.
“We gotta go handle business,” The Beard finished. “We control our own destiny. Don’t think too much of it. Just go out there and play our brand of basketball and do what we’re capable of, it’s easy.”
Time will tell if it will be easy for this group to close it out.
