James Harden’s game-winner lifts Sixers to wild 116-115 overtime win to even series with Boston Celtics

A Wells Fargo Center crowd that spent more than two hours waving rally towels throughout Sunday afternoon’s Game 4 spontaneously burst into another move in unison — motioning their arms to signal “no good” in hopes Marcus Smart’s three-pointer had left his hands after overtime’s final buzzer.

And when the video replay confirmed as much, those home fans broke into a frenzy.

The Sixers secured a wild 116-115 victory — with James Harden’s game-winning three-pointer preceding Smart’s too-late shot — to re-inject life into their Eastern Conference semifinal series by pulling them into a 2-2 tie.

This series is now guaranteed to come back to Philly for Game 6 after a massive bounce-back performance from Harden, who scored 42 points on 6-of-9 shooting from long range and added nine assists and eight rebounds after going a combined 5-of-28 from the floor in Games 2 and 3. Newly anointed NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, who continues to play with a sprained knee, had 34 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in the quick turnaround after Friday’s Game 3.

It was fitting that they connected on the game-winning bucket, when Embiid found Harden on the right side for the deep shot.

Still, the Sixers needed to keep pace after a furious Celtics rally from 16 points down in the third to take a five-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Harden forced overtime with a floater that tied the score at 107 with 16.1 seconds to play, before Smart misfired on a three-point try just before the buzzer.

Boston initially pulled even, at 96-96, when Jayson Tatum followed back-to-back three-pointers by Smart and Jaylen Brown with a scooping reverse layup with less than six minutes to play. Then, after Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were blocked at the rim, Al Horford flew down the lane for a dunk and celebrated by shimmying his shoulders to his former home crowd.

That lead grew to 105-100 on consecutive three-pointers by Smart and Malcolm Brogdon, before a layup by Harden and an old-fashioned three-point play on an underneath finish through contact by P.J. Tucker tied the game at 105 with about a minute left.

The Sixers led by as many as 16 points in the first half, when Harden slung an alley-oop advance pass to Embiid with less than two minutes to play before the break. They maintained a double-digit lead for much of the third quarter, before scoring just 15 points in the final period to fuel Boston’s comeback.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 24 points, 18 rebounds and six assists, while Jaylen Brown had 23 points and five assists. NBA Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon added 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Boston, before Game 6 Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Harden’s encore

Long before Harden’s crucial late-game buckets, the home crowd reacted with cheers that felt like a blend of enthusiastic and sarcastic when he converted a driving layup in the first quarter.

But then those shots kept falling. And falling. And falling. He buried seven of his first eight attempts — more than he made in Games 2 and 3 combined — and scored 21 first-half points.

Twelve of those points came in the second quarter’s first five minutes, feasting during Embiid’s customary rest. He hit a three-pointer while falling to the floor. When a pull-up jumper went through the net on the Sixers’ next possession, he had already made more shots than in Friday’s Game 3 loss. Then came a floater. And another deep shot. And another.

Harden then hit two three-pointers in the third quarter, including one that put the Sixers back up, 76-61, and prompted him and Embiid to encourage a roaring crowd to get louder as they headed back to the bench for a timeout.

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Stingy defensive start

The Sixers largely built their 16-point first-half lead with their defense, holding the Celtics to 38.3% from the floor.

Boston’s offensive struggles came following a scorching start from Jaylen Brown, who made his first five shots and scored 12 of his team’s first 14 points. But the rest of the Celtics shot a combined 2-of-16 in the first quarter. Tatum missed his first eight shots in the first half, before hitting a jumper in the final minute before the break.

Shortened rotation

Rotations often shrink as the playoffs progress, and Sixers wing Jalen McDaniels was squeezed out Sunday.

That put both Harden and fellow starter Tobias Harris on the floor for the start of the second and fourth quarters alongside De’Anthony Melton, Georges Niang and Paul Reed. That grouping helped unleash Harden in the second quarter. But after the Celtics cut the Sixers’ lead to seven about two minutes into the final frame, Tyrese Maxey and P.J. Tucker quickly subbed back in.

McDaniels, who was acquired by the Sixers at the February trade deadline, averaged two points on 25% and 1.7 rebounds in 11.8 minutes in this series’ first three games.

Niang was the second unit’s top performer, going 3 of 6 from long range for nine points in 19 minutes.

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