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USATSI

Perhaps the single biggest shot of the Philadelphia 76ers' 133-130 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night came on a busted play. 

With under 1:30 to play in the fourth and the Sixers, who had trailed by as many as 18 late in the third quarter, down by four, James Harden lost control of the ball and had to scamper back to half-court to retrieve it. Against a dwindling shot clock, Harden pulled the trigger on a 30-footer. Splash. 

On Philly's ensuing possession, Harden found Joel Embiid for the go-ahead 3-pointer. The Sixers never trailed again in ending Milwaukee's 16-game win streak in what probably goes down as the single-most impressive win of the Harden-Embiid era. 

Obviously Embiid's shot was huge. It was, in the end, the game-winner. But I would submit Harden's shot as the game-saver. If that shot doesn't go down and Milwaukee controls the board with a four-point lead and time set to tick under a minute, Philly's prospects for winning would've become pretty bleak. 

But the shot did go down, which was fitting. If you haven't noticed, Harden, by percentage, is having the best 3-point shooting season of his career at better than 41 percent on almost eight attempts per game. 

He's never even come close to that mark. The best he ever shot as a Rocket was 37 percent, though he obviously was a more voluminous gunner in his Houston heydays. 

Over six games since the All-Star break, Harden is 25 for 50 from deep. Since Feb. 1, he's connecting at a 45-percent clip as his All-Star snub looks increasingly worse. 

Harden was brilliant in this game, particularly in the fourth quarter, where he registered 17 of his 38 points, two of his five 3-pointers and four of his 10 assists. 

This is just the fifth time this season that Harden has crested the 30-point mark. He's not the scorer that he once was, in part because the Sixers, rightfully, prioritize Embiid, who ranks as the league's second-leading scorer while Harden leads the league in assists. 

But Harden unleashed his vintage aggression on Saturday, getting into the paint and to the rim on several crucial possessions for finishes and fouls. The Sixers spammed a double-drag screen to give Harden the space he needed against the dogged defense of Jrue Holiday, and when he got it, he attacked decisively. 

"It's two down/thumb-up is what we call it," Doc Rivers said of the double-screen action. "The first pick is really just to get Holiday to open his body a little bit. The second pick is the pick that did the damage and allowed James to go [downhill]. That was a good action for us."

"That's what I do," Harden said. "I'm very comfortable in those situations. Whether it's playmaking or scoring, I've been doing it for a long time."