James Harden delivers gospel truth and Game 4 win in his best home showing with Sixers

Doc Rivers texted Harden the gospel song “You Know My Name” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard. He played it and felt the “good juju” before lifting the 76ers to a wild overtime win against Boston.

Sixers guard James Harden clinches his fist after making the game-winning overtime three-point basket.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Keith Pompey

Published May 8, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

On his morning ride to Wells Fargo Center, James Harden received a text message from 76ers coach Doc Rivers.

Rivers texted him the gospel song, “You Know My Name,” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard.

“I’m like, ‘All right, whatever,’” Harden said. “So I just told my homies, ‘Let’s play the song.’ It’s a seven-minute song. But I let the whole song play. And I’m like, ‘It got to be some good juju in this song or whatever. However he’s feeling, I want to feel like that.’

“I guess it works.”

Sure does.

Harden had game-highs of 42 points, nine assists, and four steals in Sunday’s 116-115 Game 4 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. His wide-open 24-foot three-pointer in front of the Sixers bench with 19 seconds left was the game-winner to cap his best home game as Sixer.

This came after Harden shot a combined 5-for-28 in Games 2 and 3, both losses.

“He texted it to me,” Harden said. “It’s the first time he ever texted me a song, so I wanted to see how he was feeling.”

The victory enabled the Sixers to tie the series at 2-2 heading into Tuesday’s Game 5 in Boston.

“You better play it again … on Tuesday,” P.J. Tucker said to Harden. “You better play it again.”

The Sixers helped Harden get out of his slump with better spacing.

The Sixers’ wings ran deep to the corners on Sunday. Joel Embiid ran to the middle of the floor. Instead of being bunched together on one side of the court, the Sixers were out of the way. That gave Harden room to operate in the pick-and-roll. It also allowed Embiid pick-and-pop or roll to the basket.

“For a day and a half, James had to get himself back,” Rivers said “No one did that but James.”

The coaching staff showed him things he could correct during Saturday’s film study. Harden and Rivers also conversed about potential improvement.

“Probably 15,000 other people talked to him,” Rivers said. “But I sent him [the] gospel song. The title of it was You Know My Name. And James Harden was James Harden tonight.”

Harden took over in the second quarter, scoring 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including three three-pointers. He also had four of his assists and blocked a shot. The future Hall of Famer added eight points in the third quarter before scoring 10 of the Sixers’ 15 fourth-quarter points.

His lone basket in overtime was his game-winner. He finished 16 of 23 from the field, including 6 of 9 three-pointers.

Jaylen Brown held Harden in check in Games 2 and 3. However, the Sixers screened him in order to get a better matchup for Harden.

“We gotta make adjustments,” Brown said. “Maybe I’ll go over those screens next game. Maybe we’ll mix up some of his looks, but can’t let him go for 42.”

Harden also had a special guest, John Hao, in attendance.

Hao was a victim in the February shooting on Michigan State’s campus. Harden first reached out to him via video chat and sent several sneakers to Hao, while he was recovering at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich. The two have remained in contact, and Harden asked him to attend Sunday’s game.

Afterward, he gave Hao his game-worn sneakers.

“He’s my good luck charm,” Harden said. “Me keeping in contact with him. … A tragedy like that to happen, there’s a lot of nonsense going on in the world. For him to be a victim of that is heartbreaking. But he’s strong; he’s bouncing back. He’s recovering very well.

“And I feel like it’s my job to give him that light that he deserves, that he needs.”

And for Harden, Sunday’s performance might have quieted his critics. The 10-time All-Star said he didn’t hear the whispers. If true, that’s impressive.

He was criticized after Game 3 in barbershops, sports bars, and just about every other place Sixers fans frequent. And that doesn’t include the criticism he received on social media.

Harden was attacked for passing up looks at the basket in the Sixers’ 114-102 Game 3 loss.

Harden said he doesn’t remember shooting 5-for-28 in the past two games. But he did come out motivated and fired up Sunday.

“I always come out motivated and fired up,” Harden said. “It’s just things don’t work out how I would like them too. But that’s a part of it. But I’m a competitor. I always want to win. I always want to be aggressive. I always want to do things that contribute to winning.”

He’ll tell you that’s consistent; not something he turns on and off. Regardless if he scores 40 points or 18, Harden says he always wants to win.

But does he hear the outside noise?

“Not one bit,” Harden said.

At this stage of his career, the 33-year-old star is focused on winning a championship. Perhaps that’s why it’s best to tune out the noise. But he does know there are always going to be outside voices, be they good or bad.

“I’ve been in this game a very long time,” he said. “I heard it all. I’m in the gym or I’m chilling. So it doesn’t matter.”

However, the sounds he heard from the gospel song on his way to the arena were definitely good for him and the Sixers. The song might have saved their season.