NBA star James Harden left red-faced after ultimate showboat move backfires
JAMES HARDEN had egg on his face during a failed showboat move on Tuesday night.
It was a brilliant opening night of NBA action for James Harden as the Philadelphia 76ers star netted 35 points against the Boston Celtics. However, he embarrassed himself while attempting to showboat, and they also went on to lose the game 126-117.
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Harden may have been on form for the 76ers, but he also had a moment to forget at TD Garden.
The 76ers star initially embarrassed Marcus Smart of the Celtics, as a quick change of direction sent him flying to the floor, leaving Harden with time and space to a shoot a three pointer. And to rub salt in the wound, Harden tried to taunt the opposition, taking way longer than he needed to in a move of confidence.
After shimmying his shoulders to taunt his opponent and make light of the space he had, Harden launched a deep three-pointer, but his shot completely missed and wasn't anywhere near the basket. And this of course led to laughter around the arena, with the commentary team struggling to keep it together.
It was the best reminder that arrogance in sport is never the way forward, as Harden dug himself a major whole. And at the end of the night, it was the Celtics who were the worthy winners.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both recorded 35-point games, and the Celtics looked as strong as ever. This was despite a hectic off-season, that saw head coach Ime Udoka suspended for the entire campaign.
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Assistant coach Joe Mazzulla will be interim head coach for the 2022/23 season, and he will be very impressed with their start to proceedings. The Celtics all embraced Mazzulla following their win, and there seems to be a major sense of togetherness within the camp when it so easily could have gone the other way.
"I don't think he knew it was coming," Brown said with a smile when speaking about the interim coach. And Mazzulla later touched on the brilliant relationship they all share.
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— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) October 19, 2022
"I'm grateful for the relationship we have," Mazzulla said. "These guys have been through a lot together, and they're great players.
"So it's just a matter of working together. So I appreciate their trust and buy-in, but they come up with a lot of good stuff as well and we kind of just figure it out."
