Doc Rivers Sensed James Harden’s Dominant Performance Before Game 4

The Philadelphia 76ers bounced back on Friday night when they got Joel Embiid back in the mix ahead of Game 3. After dropping their first two games on the road, the Sixers did all they could to avoid falling into an 0-3 hole, and they were successful.

Just like that, the Sixers were one win away from tying up the series. With Game 4 approaching on Sunday night, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers felt that his team’s starting point guard James Harden had a big game brewing.

Rivers’ instincts were correct. While Harden’s had himself several notable performances in the playoffs so far with the Sixers, his scoring has been a cause for concern for many critics. As Harden’s averaging fewer than 20 points per game, many have waited for the ten-time All-Star to go off in the scoring department.

Finally, in Game 4 against the Miami Heat, Harden rallied for over 30 points for the first time during the 2022 NBA Playoffs. While Rivers doesn’t necessarily view Harden’s performance as a breakout game this postseason, he felt a big scoring game was coming.

“It’s just James being James,” said Rivers. “He played great. I said before the game I thought he was going to have a big game tonight. I didn’t know 31 points and all of the other stuff, but you can just sense it. And again, the points are great, but if he has 20 points and 14 assists either way he does it, they are all points for us, and we’re good with that.”

Harden didn’t do everything on his own in Game 4. Sixers center Joel Embiid had himself a solid scoring night as he put up 24 points in 38 minutes. While Embiid led the charge for the Sixers early, Harden was Philadelphia’s anchor when the big man was low on energy.

“Joel was low on gas at times, and James could sense that,” Rivers explained. "I thought that was huge. I thought the biggest part of the game, too, was the beginning of the fourth quarter. Joel needed rest, that group came on the floor, we created fouls, and increased the lead. When Joel came back in the game with seven and a half minutes, we were already in penalty. That’s huge. Now, every time they touch you, your fouled, and you go to the line and make free throws.”

Harden checked in for just under 41 minutes on Sunday. During that time on the court, he put up 18 shots from the field and knocked down 60-percent of his threes. In total, Harden led the Sixers in scoring with 31 points as they picked up a second-straight victory over the Heat in Game 4.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.