James Harden was left blown away after joining "rare company" by matching the Philadelphia 76ers franchise record of 21 assists in Friday's 119-114 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain and Mo Cheeks with the record, which was a career-high for the former MVP, in a game where the 76ers rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit.
The 33-year-old finished the game with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 21 assists and became the second player in 76ers history with a 20-assist triple-double, joining Chamberlain from 1968 against the Detroit Pistons.
"That's rare company," Harden told reporters. "Mo Cheeks was one of my coaches in OKC and then Wilt, I feel like he has every record.
"Just always and be in the conversation of some of the best basketball players to touch a basketball is a blessing. Hopefully, I can keep going and get more records."
Joel Embiid top scored for the 76ers with 44 points, shooting 18-of-30 from the field with seven rebounds and three assists. Harden regularly fed Embiid points throughout the game.
"I just do what I do," Harden said. "Honestly, I feel really good and just trying to get to that paint and they do a really good job of using their length.
"They're a really long team, they switch, they do a really good job of switching so I tried to press the paint and really try and find matchups that work in our advantage that really make the game easier for all of us and guys knock down shots, Joel did a really good job of getting to his spots. It was a total team effort."
Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers heaped praise on Harden for sacrificing his scoring game.
"This is a generational scorer that has taken and decided to be a point guard, who still scores, but to be a point guard for this team," Rivers said.
"That's hard to do. A lot of people, most people, can’t do that, or will not do it is a better way of saying it. The fact that he is willingly doing it, running the team, organizing us, is huge for us."
Suns fire coach Frank Vogel after first-round sweep
The Phoenix Suns have fired head coach Frank Vogel, the franchise announced Thursday, ending his tenure after one disappointing season.
Vogel’s Suns failed to live up to lofty expectations after investing almost all their future draft capital in acquiring veteran All-Stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
The Suns went 49-33 this season and needed a late 10-4 stretch to avoid the play-in tournament as the Western Conference’s No. 6 seed. Phoenix was eliminated from the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a first-round sweep.
Former title-winning Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer is atop the Suns’ list of candidates, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported. Vogel’s successor will face championship-level expectations without the ability to dramatically upgrade the roster.
“We are here to win a championship and last season was way below our expectations,” general manager James Jones said in a statement.
“We will continue to evaluate our operation and make the necessary changes to reach our championship-calibre goals. We all take accountability, and it’s my job, along with [CEO Josh Bartelstein] and ownership, to build a championship team.”
The Suns implemented a win-now strategy when, at the behest of new owner Matt Ishbia, they acquired Durant last February.
Phoenix doubled down on the all-or-nothing route by acquiring Beal in the offseason, putting the team over the second apron of the luxury tax and hindering their ability to improve the roster around Durant, Beal and Devin Booker.
The inflexibility left the Suns without a traditional point guard this season and unable to make an impactful trade deadline acquisition.
Despite having three All-Star scorers, the Suns ranked 10th in the NBA by scoring 116.2 points per game, not enough to overcome their mediocre defence.
Durant, 35, was the most productive and available of the Suns’ big three, playing 75 games and averaging 27.1 points on his typical efficient shooting.
Booker also scored 27.1 points per game and set a career-high in assists at 6.9 per contest, but he was limited to 68 games.
Beal failed to live up to his contract – which still has three years and $161million remaining – by averaging 18.2 points over 53 games.
Beyond the individual numbers, the Suns’ stars failed to create a team greater than the sum of its parts. Despite having plenty of firepower, Phoenix ranked 23rd this season by shooting 40.6 percent in clutch situations (last five minutes and the game within six points).
Vogel has a career 480-422 record (.532) with four teams. He won a championship in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers, who are undergoing their own coaching search after firing Darvin Ham.
Olympiacos 2-0 Aston Villa (6-2 agg): Villans fall in last four as El Kaabi strikes again
Olympiacos will face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final after an Ayoub El Kaabi double secured a 6-2 aggregate win over Aston Villa.
After a stunning 4-2 win at Villa Park last weekend to take the ascendancy in the semi-final tie, first-leg hat-trick hero El Kaabi struck early before netting again late on to stamp out any hopes of a Villa comeback.
After a strong start from the visitors, El Kaabi scored his fourth goal of the tie just 10 minutes into Thursday's second leg at Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki, getting on the end of Quini's low cross to turn home at the far post.
It looked an uphill battle for Villa, who dominated the possession throughout the contest in Greece but struggled to make a dent in the stubborn hosts.
Douglas Luiz saw a long-range effort saved by Kostas Tzolakis while the Olympiacos goalkeeper also denied Moussa Diaby. El Kaabi made sure late on, getting on the end of a long ball to fire past Martinez and secure Olympiacos' final berth.
The fairytale comeback never materialised for Villa, and it will be Olympiacos who take on Fiorentina at the Agia Sophia Stadium in the Greek capital of Athens on May 29, looking to utilise familiar surroundings to claim their first major European trophy.
Data debrief
El Kaabi was the hero again for Olympiacos as his two second-leg finishes took him to 10 Europa Conference League goals for the campaign, more than any other player, while his 13 strikes in major European competitions are also more than any other player when factoring in his three Europa League goals.
Villa had 73.9 per cent of the ball in the second leg, yet their 1.14 xG (expected goals) was still inferior to Olympiacos' 1.23 as the Greek Super League side's ruthlessness clinched their spot in the final.
NBA suspends Bucks' Beverley four games for throwing ball at fans
The NBA announced on Thursday that it has suspended Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley four games without pay for throwing a ball at spectators multiple times in his team's 120-98 loss to the Indiana Pacers on May 2.
The incident occurred with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the defeat that knocked the Bucks out of the play-offs.
Beverley first tossed a ball into the stands hitting some fans who weren't paying attention.
The 11-year NBA veteran appeared to ask for the ball back and after a different fan threw it to him, Beverley fired it back at that same spectator.
The league also stated he was suspended for his interaction with a reporter.
During the Bukcs' media availability the day after Milwaukee's Game 6 loss, Beverley refused to answer questions from Malina Adams from ESPN because she didn't subscribe to his podcast.
Acquired by Milwaukee from the Philadelphia 76ers in February, Beverley averaged 6.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.73 steals in 26 regular-season games for the Bucks. He then started all six play-off games for Milwaukee, averaging 8.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.0 steals.
The 35-year-old Beverley, who is known for being an elite defender but also has the reputation of being somewhat cantankerous, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
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