What Celtics said of guarding James Harden after Game 1 loss to 76ers

BOSTON — The stage was seemingly set for the Celtics when Joel Embiid was expectedly ruled out before Game 1. The 76ers relied heavily all season on their MVP candidate, and many wrote them off after Embiid was scratched because of the knee injury.

But James Harden and the rest of the Sixers roster had other plans. Harden had one of his best playoff performances ever, pouring in 45 points and six assists as his shot-making was reminiscent of his Houston days. The former MVP also sunk the game-winning 3-pointer as he boosted the Sixers to the 119-115 win over the Celtics on Monday at TD Garden. By the end, Philadelphia shocked Boston to take the 1-0 series lead.

“You be physical with him,” Malcolm Brogdon said of Harden. “I thought we had times where we played good defense on him, but he’s a still a great player. He’s going to make tough shots. … You’ve got to cut off the water somewhere. And if James Harden was going to have his 45 then that’ll be that, but the role guys can’t have really good games as well.”

As Brogdon pointed out, the role players stepped up and made huge shots. Tyrese Maxey had 26 points, and while it wasn’t on sparkling efficiency, he hit tough shots throughout Wednesday’s game. De’Anthony Melton got hot in the first half as he poured in 17 points, along with Tobias Harris putting up 18.

But the story of Wednesday’s game was Harden, who was largely written off all season. While he was a prolific scorer with the Rockets, his numbers took a dip ever since he was traded to Brooklyn. Then he put up an impressive game Wednesday to will the Sixers to victory. And all the C’s could do was make life as difficult as possible for Harden.

“Try to guard him as best as I could and he probably surprised me how quick he shot the ball,” Al Horford said of Harden’s game-winner. “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.”

The Celtics will look to regroup in Game 2, which is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday at TD Garden. There’s still plenty of series left as the C’s lost home-court advantage. Embiid’s status is an important factor going forward, though the Celtics will prioritize slowing down the Sixers as a whole going forward.

“That’s the catch,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said. “That’s what you do on Harden, you want to try to throw an extra guy at him. … So their spacing was really good and when they play small they have shooters and that puts you in a bind. Now you’re going to be shifted off of them and in the first half we were shifted a little bit more and gave some catch and shoot shots to their role guys that, credit to them, they knocked down.”

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