Without Joel Embiid, it was James Harden who erupted at the TD Garden. Spoiling Jayson Tatum‘s 39-point double-double, the 2018 MVP shook the building. He dropped a playoff-high 45 points in Game 1 to lift the Philadelphia 76ers over the second-seeded Boston Celtics. His monster night shocked the NBA world as he proved he can still be the scoring sensation when needed.

However, NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson was impressed with Harden’s performance, but for an unexpected reason. Harden’s stellar night helped the Sixers take a 1-0 series lead, and more importantly, a game on the road.

Magic Johnson explains why James Harden was ‘amazing’ against the Celtics

The Beard practically did it all tonight. He was the Sixers’ go-to bucketer while also being the creator. Dueling against Tatum, Harden seemed to be playing in a different arena tonight. With seconds on the clock and the game on the line, his miraculous clutch display capped off what was a perfect night for Philadelphia.

“I haven’t felt one of those zones in a minute. It felt really good.” said The Beard about his explosive performance.

Magic was quite impressed with the James Harden explosion. It was yet another “amazing individual performance in the NBA Playoffs,” he said. However, what the Hall of Famer found even more impressive was the setting in which Harden was able to perform.

“What made it even more amazing was the fact he put on a dominating performance in Boston!” Magic said.

For Harden to deliver a career night in the playoffs at 33 seems to be impressive enough. Without the Sixers’ leading star, he was able to rise to the challenge and put on a sensational performance. After the game, Harden didn’t have anything to say about the crowd or his scoring explosion in particular. His priority remains on winning Game 2 and putting an exclamation mark on this series.

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It’s still unknown whether James Harden can perform at such a level offensively on a regular. Not just that, but the Sixers will be desperate to hear an encouraging update on Joel Embiid. Head coach Doc Rivers said he hopes to have to NBA’s scoring champion back by Game 2, but there is no clarity on that front.

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Do you think the James Harden and the Sixers can hang on to this lead without Embiid? Let us know your views in the comments below!