Rob Issa, FISM News

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Without Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers turned to James Harden.

The 10-time All-Star responded with a vintage performance, scoring 45 points to lead Philadelphia to a 119-115 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series on Monday night.

Embiid, an MVP finalist, has missed the past two games with a knee injury. But Harden stepped up and played like he did in his MVP year with the Houston Rockets.

Harden matched a career playoff-best in scoring, Tyrese Maxey added 26 points, and Tobias Harris had 18 for Philadelphia, which is undefeated this postseason. Paul Reed had 10 points and 13 rebounds starting in Embiid’s spot in the middle.

“We didn’t come into the game expecting to lose. We came in here to win,” Harden said. “Whether Jo comes back or not, we’re going to be ready to go.”

Harden’s go-ahead, step-back 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds gave the Sixers the lead for good and the Celtics turned the ball over on the opposite end.

James Harden walks through the game-winning 3 that gave him 45 PTS 👀#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/PgMK8gebJb

— NBA (@NBA) May 2, 2023

“That’s the difference between this year’s team and last year’s team. We have a bunch of street fighters,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “If we could get to the fourth quarter, we were going to win the game. That’s how we felt.”

Jayson Tatum led Boston with 39 points and 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 20.

Game 2 is Wednesday night.

“That’s the big catch,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said about double-teaming Harden. “That’s what you do on Harden: Do you want to try to throw an extra guy at him? I called one in the first half and gave an open 3 to (Georges) Niang and we did one again at the end of the third quarter and we gave one to Harris.

“We doubled in the first half and they had six points off double teams on Harden. So, hindsight’s always 20/20. If we didn’t double him (and they missed their shots), it would’ve been great defense. If we did double him and they did hit their shots, it would’ve been, ‘Why did we double him?’ We doubled twice in the first half on my call and they scored both times on it.”

JOKIC LEADS NUGGETS TO WIN WITH DOUBLE-DOUBLE

In Denver, Nikola Jokic scored 39 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Nuggets to a 97-87 comeback win over the Phoenix Suns.

The Nuggets took a 2-0 lead over Kevin Durant and the Suns in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series.

Devin Booker scored 35 points and Durant had 24 for the Suns, who took a 3-point lead into the fourth quarter. Phoenix lost point guard Chris Paul to a tight left groin late in the third quarter.

Denver needed Jokic to step up with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. struggling. He shot 17 of 30 while Murray and Porter were 5 of 22.

“I love an aggressive Nikola Jokic,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “Nikola’s an MVP for a reason. He can take over a game. He can beat you in a lot of ways. … I love a guy who’s getting to the basket, imposing his will upon the other team.”

Jokic is the two-time reigning NBA MVP. He’s a finalist along with Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The winner will be announced Tuesday.

The Suns have extra time to regroup before returning to the court on their home floor for Game 3 on Friday.

“You’ve got to believe that it’s going to come our way here soon,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “We’ve got to go home and take care of business. That’s where we are right now.”

Durant shot 10 of 27, including 2 of 12 from 3-point range in a game the Suns were counting on their superstar to deliver an MVP-level performance. Phoenix made a blockbuster deal to get Durant from Brooklyn in February.

“They were good looks. Just didn’t go down,” Durant said of his shots. “Just couldn’t knock ’em down. Felt like they was good leaving my hand but it is what it is.”