Sixers vs. Boston Celtics Game 4 takeaways: Philly grit, a no-call, fatigue fight

The 76ers manned up.

A blatant no-call would have been talked about for years had the Sixers lost.

And playing just eight men nearly cost the team in the end.

Those were three takeaways from Sunday in the Sixers’ 116-115 Game 4 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinal at the Wells Fargo Center.

The biggest uncertainty was how the Sixers, primarily James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, would play Sunday after both were criticized for passing up shots in Game 3.

Would the Sixers guard continue to stop driving in the paint and taking shots? Would the team continue to show bad body language in negative situations?

Not at all.

Harden erased memories of his poor performance with game highs of 42 points, nine assists and four steals to go with eight rebounds. The future Hall of Famer even had the game-winning three-pointer in overtime.

Meanwhile, Maxey had 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals. He didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, going 6-for-17. But the third-year shooting guard didn’t shy away from the moment.

And unlike Friday, the Sixers didn’t display bad body language when things didn’t go their way.

They stayed calm while surrendering a 16-point lead and overcame a five-point deficit in overtime to win.

“We just fought,” Doc Rivers said. “This is the way it’s going to be. It’s going to be a game of runs. We’ve got to sustain their runs. We’ve got to keep our composure. I was proud of our guys.”

Rivers might receive a fine for criticizing the officials in the coming days. But the Sixers coach only mentioned what everyone watching the game witnessed.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum should have been called for an offensive foul on his go-ahead three-pointer with 38.1 seconds left in overtime. He pushed Maxey several feet backwards with his right arm to create space for the shot. But the refs didn’t call a foul and the Celtics had a 115-113 advantage.

“Jayson Tatum’s three was awful that that wasn’t called. Awful,” Rivers said. " ... Did you think it was a push off? It was a push off!

“And the reason that it bugged me was because at the end of the game, there were these touch fouls. Jayson Tatum has a 360 foul. Marcus Smart and [P.J. Tucker] gets tangled up. Touch foul. …”

» READ MORE: Philly Tough: Joel Embiid’s heroic game & James Harden’s bounce-back evens series. Now, do it again.

The Sixers were gassed in the fourth quarter. That contributed to their blowing their 16-point, third-quarter lead.

The fatigue was a result of the Sixers shortening their rotation to eight players. Reserve forward Jalen McDaniels, who made just 2 of 8 shots in the first three series games, didn’t play on Sunday.

As a result, De’Anthony Melton, Georges Niang, Paul Reed were the only players off the bench. Starters Tobias Harris (45 minutes, 12 seconds), Joel Embiid (46:12), Maxey (44:40) and Harden (47:24) all played more than 44 minutes. Meanwhile, P.J. Tucker played 31:24.

“I thought that was the right thing to do,” Rivers said of shortening the rotation. “Having said that, I thought during that one stretch, we were running on empty. We couldn’t get the ball up the floor and that’s when they made their run.

“When we were playing at our pace all game, we were getting whatever we wanted, and that was great.”

Best performance: This goes to Harden for what was his best game home game as a Sixer.

Worst performance: Melton gets this for having a rough afternoon. He failed to score while going 0-for-2 from the floor. He also had four fouls, two assists, one steal and a turnover.

Best defensive player: Al Horford gets this even on a night Embiid finished with 34 points. Horford had a game-high five blocks to go with two steals.

Worst statistic: This goes to Boston shooting 72.7% from the foul line.

Best statistic: I have to give it to the Sixers having a 19-9 advantage in second-chance points.

» READ MORE: James Harden delivers gospel truth and Game 4 win in his best home showing with Sixers