(Basketball news) The Philadelphia 76ers produced a clinical performance without their starman Joel Embiid as they beat the Boston Celtics 119-114. For the 76ers, Harden matched his playoff career high with 45 points and hit a go-ahead, step-back 3-pointer over Al Horford with 8.7 seconds left while Tyrese Maxey added 26 points and Tobias Harris finished with 18 points. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum led the scoring with 39 points and 11 rebounds.

Jaylen Brown added 23 points and Malcolm Brogdon finished with 20 points. When James Harden was traded from the Nets he was asked for most of this season to be a facilitator for a 76ers team built around big man Joel Embiid. But With the MVP finalist sidelined for the opener of his team’s second-round playoff series with the Celtics, we saw a vintage version of Harden.

“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.”

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

“They hit big shots and I think they were just in a rhythm throughout the whole game,” Tatum said.

“I was about to pick the ball up, but I’m glad I kept running,” Maxey said.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns 97-87 in game 2 as the Nuggets take a 2-0 series lead. For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic scored 39 points and pulled down 16 rebounds Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 14 points and went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc.

For the Suns, Devin Booker led the scoring with 35 points and Kevin Durant added 24 points but they combined to miss a whopping 32 shots, including 14 from long range. The Suns have been outscored by 30 points from long range this series. Although the Suns have 2 games at home which is a must win game for them.

“I love an aggressive Nikola Jokic,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Jokic knocked down 17 shots

“Nikola’s an MVP for a reason,” Malone said. “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. And that fourth quarter, man, 14 points for that team, 28% from the field, 0-for-9 from 3?”

“If he wins, it, we will be celebrating and very happy for him because it’d be a huge accomplishment – three years in a row. Only a few guys in NBA history have done that,” Malone said. “If he doesn’t win it, I’m still gonna give him a hug and tell him he’s the MVP in my eyes.”

“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.”

“Slowed down Murray a bit,” Durant said. “He obviously got it going in the first game. But Jokic was doing a little bit too much. I think we held them to 97 points total. Usually that’s a win for us.”

Also read: NBA: Lakers thrash the Grizzlies while the Kings tie the series against the Warriors