James Harden reveals inspiring message 76ers HC Doc Rivers sent him
The Philadelphia 76ers faced the possibility of falling into a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Celtics.
However, the 76ers answered the bell in Game 4 to even up the series behind star guard James Harden’s 42-point performance on Sunday.
After the game, Harden revealed that head coach Doc Rivers sent him a text message referencing a gospel song called “You Know My Name?” that he believed he needed to hear.
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“I’m on my way to the game, and I get a text from Doc,” Harden said with a laugh via ESPN. “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 seven-minute song, but I let the whole song play.
“I was like, ‘All right, there’s got to be some kind of good juju in this song, or however he’s feeling, I want to feel like that’. And I guess it worked.”
Harden used that to further motivate himself to put forth his second 40-point performance of the series against the Celtics. His stellar outing played a crucial part in helping get the 76ers back on track.
Harden played aggressively offensively with drives to the basket and an emphasis on finding his scoring groove. He capped off the night with the go-ahead corner 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining in overtime.
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The 76ers will need Harden to be a significant scoring factor if they hope to push past the Celtics to reach the Eastern Conference finals. Game 5 on the road in Boston will be a huge test ahead.
