NBA Playoffs 2021: James Harden's playmaking is unleashing the Brooklyn Nets offence

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The Brooklyn Nets' offence was firing on all cylinders in their 141-126 Game 4 win over the Boston Celtics, with James Harden pulling the strings.

Harden dished out a playoff career-high 18 dimes to go with 23 points, five rebounds, two steals and three blocks, becoming the first Nets player in franchise history with 20p/15a in a playoff game. 

"I thought he was terrific," head coach Steve Nash said post-game. 

"[His] vision is outstanding and his ability to find guys out of the pick and roll or when they double is great, so it was fun to watch, and when he's able to pick the gym apart like that it's pretty special."

When Harden is controlling the offence like this, the Nets are seemingly impossible to contain. He had 12 games during the regular season with 13+ assists, all games which the Nets won.

With Harden accounting for 18 of the Nets' 29 assists tonight, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant carried the scoring load, dropping 39 points and 42 points respectively, with the Big 3 combining for 104 of the team's 141 total points. 

"Just being aggressive, not to score but just to be a playmaker," Harden said of his approach in Game 4. 

"Credit to guys that made shots and finished the basketball well, but our pace, our energy, our movement was very very good, so I just saw spots on the floor where I could be aggressive and when I saw somebody open and get them the ball.

"I just tried to communicate, especially with guys like Bruce [Brown], where to be on the court to get him going."

The Nets will look to close out the series when they return to Brooklyn for Game 5, scheduled for Tuesday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor for The Sporting News.