Danuel House Jr. provides surprise boost in Sixers’ Game 5 win at Boston

BOSTON — Danuel House Jr. barreled down the court — again — and elevated to collect an alley-oop pass from James Harden. The ball rolled around the rim and in, extending the 76ers’ lead to 19 points in Tuesday’s critical 115-103 Game 5 victory over the Celtics.

On a night when NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid dominated, Tyrese Maxey finally broke through against Boston with a 30-point outburst, and Harden and Tobias Harris were steady contributors, House was an unexpected Sixers standout. After playing only 13 total playoff minutes entering the critical matchup at TD Garden, House finished with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and added five rebounds to help put the Sixers on the verge of their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2001.

“My job is to bring energy, showcase a little something for the team, to guard the yard and make sure I’m executing plays,” House said. “… It was a joy to be out there, to be honest.”

House’s surprising opportunity arrived after what Sixers coach Doc Rivers described as “painstaking” staff discussions on Monday and Tuesday about who should be the rotation’s ninth man. Rivers said coaches were deciding between three players and, plot twist, House was not the original choice.

But Rivers went with his gut in the heat of game action, initially calling on House in the first quarter’s final seconds. The coach said he valued House’s blend of size and athleticism, which he utilizes as an active defender and aggressor in the open court. The rugged wing also has previous playoff experience with the Houston Rockets (when he was infamously kicked out of the 2020 restart bubble for having an unauthorized guest in his hotel room) and Utah Jazz. And, perhaps most importantly, House had the most career minutes logged playing off Harden, his former teammate with the Rockets.

House’s immediate reaction when Rivers turned to him on the bench: “Everything on the line, go time.”

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“I know what we need to do,” House said. “I know what we’re looking for. I’ve been in those positions [with Harden] before: setting screens, rolling, picking, popping, passing, shooting, scoring. … To play with someone that’s familiarized with your game, it’s only a bigger plus.”

House said his first priority was to help guard the Celtics’ lethal perimeter scorers, including when Harris sat after picking up his fourth foul in the third quarter. But House also became an attacking threat on offense, accounting for eight of the Sixers’ 15 fastbreak points because, in House’s mind, “if a guy’s backpedaling, he can’t stop me.”

He initially broke free early in the second quarter, when he snatched the ball off a De’Anthony Melton block and converted the transition layup. Later, House grabbed a loose ball off an Embiid swat and took it the other way for a score that put the Sixers up, 86-69, late in the third period. He then scored on two consecutive fourth-quarter possessions, even breaking out a Euro-step move.

Seemingly the only thing that slowed House down was his lung capacity, which needed to get reacclimated to playoff intensity. Rivers said that, at one point, House molded his arms into an “X” (a fatigue signal in other countries, according to House) to tell his coach, “I can’t breathe.”

“I’ve been waiting for him to get his shot,” said teammate P.J. Tucker, who also played with House in Houston. “He finally got it and took advantage of it. That’s what House does. He’s energy. He’s a good defender. He’s strong. He’s physical. He’s athletic. He makes shots. So I think this is probably the series to give him a shot.”

Tuesday’s effort was House’s reward for living by the “stay ready” cliché, even while going through long stretches when he was out of the rotation during a regular season when he averaged 4.8 points and 1.7 rebounds in 56 games. Former Sixer Matisse Thybulle got those minutes earlier in the season. Then Jalen McDaniels, a trade-deadline acquisition now in the first playoff run of his career, held that spot until Sunday, when he did not play because Rivers shortened his rotation to eight players in the Sixers’ dramatic overtime home win. House also missed two games during the Sixers’ first-round sweep of the Brooklyn Nets with a non-COVID illness.

House credited player development coach Reggie Reading — who is a one-on-one and film-study partner — with keeping him engaged and prepared. House also has been a positive presence throughout the Sixers’ season. Teammates highlighted a motivational timeout speech he gave during a comeback win at Cleveland that fueled their brutal, road-heavy March. And House will fire off entertaining takes with teammates and visitors during the pregame locker-room period, when his obsession with Dr Pepper became a season-long topic.

That personality cracked through even in a formal press conference setting late Tuesday. He asked, “What’s the deal?” to reporters when he sat down in front of the microphone and then ripped off his “for the House, for the team” motto. When Harris came to the dais a few minutes later, House playfully said, “Hey, Tobias. So good for you to join me. That means you get to answer these questions with me.”

House’s attitude epitomizes the Sixers’ “We Season” mantra, which he emphasized during Tuesday’s media session. His team gave that energy right back while House returned to on-court action Tuesday. As House launched two first-half three-pointers, teammates on the bench stood up, ready to celebrate. When House checked out of the game in the fourth quarter, assistant Sam Cassell’s grin as he slapped House’s hand could be spotted from the opposite corner of the court.

“I want to win, and I can’t let my brothers down to the left and right,” House said. “My name was called, so I had to step up.”

And as House passed Daryl Morey while strolling down a long hallway to the visitors’ locker room, the executive offered his own praise.

“Always ready,” Morey said to House.

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