MILWAUKEE–The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night looking to make a statement. They were coming off a disheartening loss in Dallas and they now needed to find a way to get back on track against the NBA’s hottest team.
The Bucks entered the night winners of 16 straight games and they had taken the top spot in the Eastern Conference. They exploded in the third quarter and they led Philadelphia by 18 on a night that looked like they were going to earn win No. 17 in a row. Especially, with Philadelphia losing two starters to injury.
Instead, the Sixers dug deep and they rallied for what is probably their most impressive win of the season 133-130 over the Bucks. James Harden was the main catalyst as he went off for 38 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds.
“That’s what I do,” Harden said after the win. “I’m very comfortable in those situations. Whether it’s playmaking, whether it’s scoring, I’ve been doing it for a long time. So that’s just me out there playing basketball. I put the work in. I work on it every single day I practice and the results show.”
Harden was sensational in the fourth quarter. He scored 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting and he knocked down two triples in order to help Philadelphia outscore Milwaukee 48-31 in the final stanza.
“Holy smokes,” said Georges Niang. “I mean, just talking about putting the team on your back, let’s go. I mean, he did that to get us back into the game. Then to finish it, to control the pace, to make sure everybody was getting the ball in the right spots. He did a really tremendous job. It was exciting to see for sure.”
Of course, Harden had some help. Niang knocked down four 3s of his own in the fourth quarter, Jalen McDaniels gave the team a big boost, and Joel Embiid knocked down a big shot late as well.
“Just give ourselves a chance,” Harden added. “That was that whole fourth quarter. It felt like they had us the entire game. In that fourth quarter, we came out with some pop, you know what I mean? Then last couple of minutes, man it’s a tight game, it was just shot-making. Shot making and who can…
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