(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Most fans didn’t expect to see James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers score 45 points in Monday night’s big game against the Boston Celtics.
Following the marvelous win for Philly, Harden is being heralded as a hero by fans who think he might be starting an amazing run for the series.
But others think this was just a brief moment of brilliance from Harden.
“I think it’s a total outlier by James Harden,” Colin Cowherd said about Harden’s big night on his show Tuesday morning.
“I think it’s a total outlier by James Harden.”
— @ColinCowherd reacts to Sixers stealing Game 1 in Boston pic.twitter.com/useFjI0BUk
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 2, 2023
During his monologue, Cowherd said that Harden was “way past his prime,” suggesting that performances like this won’t come often in the future.
It is certainly true that his 45 points were surprising.
For the season, Harden averaged 21 points per game.
But that was with Joel Embiid, who was out Monday night due to injury.
Harden knew that more pressure would be on his shoulders without the big man and he was willing to take it on and dug deep for the victory.
It’s likely that Cowherd is right and we won’t witness many more 40+ games from Harden during the postseason.
That will be because Embiid will probably return and the Celtics will also clamp down on Harden much more in Game 2 and beyond.
But even if Harden doesn’t perform like this regularly, his showing on Monday night was massively beneficial for the team.
They scored a victory on the road against one of the toughest teams in the league.
Even if Harden was forced to sit out the rest of the second round, his input in Game 1 just changed the narrative around this series and gave Philly fans something to believe in.
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