James Harden entered Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday coming off what was perhaps his worst two-game stretch of the 2023 playoffs.
Against the Celtics in Games 2 and 3 — both losses — Harden combined to complete 5 of 28 field goal attempts (17.8 percent), including 2 of 13 from 3 (15.3 percent). He had plus-minus ratings of negative-21 and negative-12 in the defeats, respectively.
So 76ers coach Doc Rivers, with his team trailing 2-1 ahead of the pivotal Game 4, decided to send Harden a friendly reminder of his capabilities.
And he did it in a way only Rivers could:
MORE: 76ers coach Doc Rivers furious after late no-call on Celtics' Jayson Tatum: 'It was a push-off'
"First time he's ever texted me a song so I want to see how he was feeling."
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2023
James Harden on listening to the song Doc Rivers sent him for motivation ahead of Game 4 🔊#NBAPlayoffs presented by @GooglePixel_US pic.twitter.com/CIad9AgOhG
"For a day and a half, James had to get himself back. No one did that but James. Film's great, we talked, and probably 15,000 other people probably talked to him. ... I sent him a gospel song — he'll tell you if you want — before the game. The title of it is ('You Know My Name.')
"James Harden was James Harden tonight."
Indeed, Harden shot 16 of 23 in the 116-115 overtime victory at the Wells Fargo Arena, including 6 of 9 from 3. He also added eight rebounds and nine assists in the victory, but no play was bigger than his shot that sent the game to overtime — except the one that proved to be the game-winner in the extra period:
JAMES HARDEN WITH 39.
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2023
SENDS GAME 4 INTO OVERTIME.
GET TO ESPN! pic.twitter.com/K5kQ7ZFXe4
JAMES HARDEN GAME-WINNER.
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2023
42 POINTS IN THE GAME 4 WIN.
SERIES TIED AT 2-2.#PLAYOFFMODE pic.twitter.com/FVG2pYJ9CC
Harden confirmed Rivers' story, saying in postgame he "guessed" the song helped him turn his play around after the two-game slump. But his bemused retelling of playing the song — "You Know My Name," by Tasha Cobbs Leonard — suggested it's not something he would typically listen to:
"I'm on my way to the game and I get a text from Doc, I'm like, 'What the hell's going on?'" Harden said. "And I'm like, 'Alright, whatever.' So I tell my homies, 'Let's play the song.' It's a seven-minute song, but it's like. ...
"I let the whole song play and I'm like, 'Alright there's gotta be some good juju with this song or whatever. However he's feeling, I want to feel like that.' I guess it worked, so whatever."
