How James Harden and the 76ers Shook Jaylen Brown’s Defense in Game 4

PHILADELPHIA — Jaylen Brown sat at the podium for the second time in a now-tied series against the 76ers asking for the ball more. Brown’s 7-for-11 start in Game 4 kept the Celtics in a game where Jayson Tatum stumbled out of the gate, scoring two points in the first half, and Boston fell behind by 16 points in the first half. Tatum recovered to score 22 points after halftime, forcing overtime in an eventual 116-115 loss.

Brown should’ve asked instead to guard James Harden more often. The Sixers star ran loose for 42 points on 16-for-23 shooting picking on whatever matchup he desired after disappearing in Games 2 and 3. Brown lost him on screens for most of the game, receiving a reminder on the final play of overtime when he doubled Joel Embiid ahead by one in the post. The admitted mistake left Harden wide open in the corner for the game-winner.

Brown received only three shots after halftime emerged as a major story out of the loss as did Joe Mazzulla’s decision not to call timeout with 19 seconds remaining after Harden’s three gave Philadelphia a one-point lead late in the extra period. Tatum took too long to get into his set. Brown didn’t touch the ball, and fell to sixth in usage late in games. The Celtics liked their looks and their comeback effort following a slow start that cost them as much, if not more, than any crunch time lapses. Boston failed to guard Harden’s pick-and-roll.

“We didn’t play none of our best basketball at one point in the game,” Smart said. “They were shooting 50%. We were shooting 30-something percent, and we fought our way back. That’s all you can ask for. I don’t look at this as a deflation for us, I look at it as we’ve gotta learn from our mistakes, clean up our mistakes and just bring that same intensity.”

Harden found Embiid first on a play the 76ers struggled to create advantages on early in the series. It became their bread-and-butter for the rest of the afternoon, eliminating Brown and other primary defenders from the play and allowing Harden to start 2-for-3 inside driving downhill.

Brown held Harden to 3-for-6 shooting from the field and 10 points after limiting him to six points on 2-for-11 through the first three games. Something Doc Rivers noted and clearly addressed entering the game.

“Jaylen Brown is a bigger man, person on James and so that makes it a little tougher for sure, because he’s so much more physical in the pick-and-roll,” Rivers said. “And he’s blowing up a lot of them, he’s going over the top of a lot of them. The key with pick-and-rolls with Joel with most teams, and they’re the same, (they) really don’t want to switch. If you can be physically strong enough to get over the picks, you take away the downhill attacks that we want. Give Brown credit, he’s doing that so far.”

Embiid took the rim away from Tatum and Tyrese Maxey swooped in to force turnovers due to Boston’s ball-handlers hesitating. Harden found a wide open lane to the basket past Williams III and drew free throws on Tatum. A playmaking gap emerged between the two teams, and the 76ers built an eight-point lead on five straight Embiid points to close the quarter.

Harden exploded into the second, scoring or assisting on 17 straight points on 5-of-5 shooting while picking on Grant Williams, Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon, before finally catching Brown on a long pull-up three. Brown didn’t take a shot for nearly eight minutes in the second quarter while Tatum stayed engaged through an 0-for-7 start, stopping Harden and Tobias Harris around the rim before Brogdon and Al Horford hit threes shortly before halftime to keep Boston within eight points after trailing by 16.

“(Brown was) being overly physical and making it hard for him. James is a phenomenal player and J.B.’s taking that challenge head-on,” Grant told CLNS Media pre-game. “You have to respect him for it and he’s going to continue to do that, because that’s J.B. and he’ll set that tone on the defense end. I learned a lot from him and I’m trying to do the same thing with Embiid. Just follow his lead … sometimes it’s switching, other times you maintain the matchup and lock in and guard. For me, it’s just a matter of this matchup itself is maintain and try and fight.”

Embiid rolled deeper in this game and flashed more consistency in his third game back from his LCL sprain, stuttering through numerous Celtics arms and hands to finish a tough layup inside at the start of the third. Harden found Tucker in the pick-and-roll for three and Harris found points running in transition, forced Horford to switch and hit a three over him. Embiid used a solid screen on Grant players later to force Smart to switch near the paint and give up two more free throws to the big man, who finished with 34 points.

Boston’s switching grew so passive that by the end of the quarter they let Harris ghost screen Smart out of the pick-and-roll away from the ball. Harris then Williams III into the play with a real pick, allowing Maxey to blow by Williams III for a layup and a nine-point lead before the fourth quarter.

“They were screening earlier in the shot clock trying to get me off (Harden),” Brown said. “Get him on a more opportune matchup, trying to get switches earlier in the shot clock to get me off of him. I got foul trouble a little bit early and it worked. We’ll watch the film and make adjustments.”

Brown adjusted by going over screens into the fourth quarter and recovering to Harden after the screen with Williams III covering behind in the drop. They successfully stopped a Harden and Paul Reed pick-and-roll, before forcing kick-outs to Harris and Georges Niang that resulted in a Harris pass to Rivers and a Tatum block on Niang’s corner three. Brown hit a three and Tatum scored inside to tie the game at 96 and Embiid failed to isolate Horford in the final minutes of the game. Horford dunked for the lead and shimmied.

Then, Harden dug back into his bag to beat Brown driving in isolation down by four points. A permissible shot. The next two possessions, another passive switch to line Harden up on Brogdon and the go-ahead bucket where Embiid screened Brogdon out of the play saw the Celtics get away from where they succeeded all series.

Smart waited five seconds while Harden dribbled against Horford and tied the game with a floater at 107-107 before Smart missed the game-winner at the buzzer. That comeback jump-started with Horford and Smart both boxing out Embiid in rotation on the play before, leaving PJ Tucker open for a three-point play.

In overtime — the decisive play where Brown doubled Embiid started with Tatum cross-matched against Embiid.

“They’re doing a great job of dragging the screen out and creating separation between (Harden) and Embiid,” Mazzulla said on Monday. “Which forces us into a situation of, do we stay with the ball and recover back to Embiid on the pop? Or do we switch it? We just have to continue to fight for those matchups and just be ready to adjust whenever necessary.”