James Harden bounce-back rescues 76ers in Game 4 to tie series - ESPN

PHILADELPHIA — After James Harden had the two worst consecutive shooting games of his entire career in Games 2 and 3 of the Philadelphia 76ers' Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Boston Celtics, coach Doc Rivers decided to remind his star guard of who he is heading into Game 4.

«I sent him a gospel song,» Rivers would later say with a laugh. «The title of it is, 'You Know My Name?'

»I'm on my way to the game, and I get a text from Doc," Harden later explained with a laugh. «It's a gospel song, and I'm like, 'All right, whatever.' So, I just tell my homies, 'Let's play the song.' It's a 7-minute song, but I let the whole song play.

»I was like, 'All right, there's got to be some kind of good ju-ju in this song, or however he's feeling, I want to feel like that.'

«And I guess it worked.»

It certainly did. Harden not only finished with a spectacular line — 42 points on 16-for-23 shooting, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range, to go along with eight rebounds, nine assists, four steals, a block and just one turnover in 47 minutes — but he hit the game-tying shot in the closing seconds of regulation before burying a corner 3-pointer with 19 seconds to go to lift Philadelphia to a stunning 116-115 overtime victory on Sunday.

This titanic Eastern Conference showdown now heads back to Boston knotted at two games apiece — and does so because Harden rediscovered the magic he had in Game 1, when he poured in 45 points to lead Philadelphia to a win without Joel Embiid. Then, in Games 2 and 3, he combined to shoot 5-for-28 from the field — the worst two-game shooting performance of his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

There were no such issues Sunday.

«That's what he needs to do every night,» said