By: Johnn Jin

The 76ers had a chance to drop out of the NBA Finals. The Celtics had them trapped 3 – 2 and they needed to win game four or get knocked out of the playoffs.

Everyone was looking up to their star start point guard, James Harden, and their star power forward, Joel Embiid. Through the middle of the game the 76ers were leading, but with two minutes left Boston was up by five. Then the 76ers tied it and with less than a minute into overtime, Harden made a three-point shot to seal the deal, winning by one point.

What made Harden do so well? In a rare text exchange, coach Doc Rivers sent Harden a seven-minute gospel song “You Know My Name” before the pivotal game. Harden described it afterward, “there’s some kind of jam in that song.” Another source of motivation is his promise to shooting survivor and biggest fan John Hao that if he recovered, he could come to a game. And when he came to game four, Harden gave him his winning three-point shoes. Afterward, Doc River said, “He better play it again.” With the help of a gospel song, they won game four.

But in the end, the 76ers lost, maybe because of the player’s aging. For example, Harden said, “I used to get like 30-40 points and then I’ll go out there and get 20 points and 11 assists. And it’s like, ‘Well, he’s not the old James Harden no more.’” Still, James Harden, Joel Embiid, and young point guard Tyrese Maxey hope for the best. There’s always next season!