Getty Sixers forward Danuel House Jr. goes up for a shot against Jayson Tatum in the season opener.
It was a rough night for the hometown team. Playing in their first game of the season at Wells Fargo Center, the Philadelphia 76ers looked lost at times, out of rhythm on offense, and prone to turnovers.
They lost 90-88 to the Milwaukee Bucks. Joel Embiid was particularly bad in the third quarter, leading to a hearty round of boos from Sixers fans. Embiid was scheduled to hold a post-game press conference, then decided to quietly slip out the back door without talking. Not a big deal, but it was certainly emblematic of his frustration.
Sixers forward Danuel House Jr. was making his regular-season debut in front of the Philly faithful. The night tested the full gamut of human emotions – enthusiastic cheers, disappointed boos, plus surprise appearances from a few Philadelphia Eagles players seated in the front row — and House appreciated all of it. Now it’s up to the Sixers to match that energy.
“It was amazing, the energy was crazy,” House said. “It was crazy, the energy was off the Richter Scale. They got Chik fil-A tonight of course so they’re happy about that.”
House was referring to the 5-piece chicken nuggets that all fans were entitled to on Friday. The new Bricken for Chicken promotion cashed out when Giannis Antetokounmpo missed back-to-back free throws.
Meanwhile, House heard the boos raining down and soaked them in. He didn’t mind hearing them, especially not with the way the Sixers were playing at the time.
“It motivates me personally because it’s like, ‘Hey, I don’t like what I’m seeing, c’mon tighten up.’ It’s something good. It’s just like your parents, like, ‘Hey, that wasn’t your best thing, tighten up.’ What you gonna do? Tighten up.
“It’s the home crowd. They giving us the energy. They spent their hard-earned money. They giving us effort. They dealt with traffic to get here, so that’s what we want to do, return the energy and love, and show Philly that we gonna play for the front and the back of the jersey.”
Seeing the ‘Bigger Picture’ with James Harden
House was teammates with James Harden on the Houston Rockets so those two have an indeniable built-in connection. That showed up in the fourth quarter when James Harden found House inside for an easy bucket.
House of Harden.
The Sixers enjoyed their best stretch of basketball on Thursday night when Doc Rivers rolled out a Rockets reunion tour lineup featuring House, Harden, P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, and Tobias Harris. They sparked a 13-0 run to tie the game at 80-80. After the game, House was asked if his chemistry with Harden had carried over from Houston to Philadelphia.
“I feel like it’s transferred over like we never left,” House said. “We understand the game and understand each other. We see the bigger picture. So, of course, us playing with each other, we see the bigger picture. We’ve been in multiple games. Battle-tested games. Games when we’ve got our heads taken off. When we took somebody’s head off. So, it gives us a big advantage because we kind of know each other. The chemistry part. We all got a mission together. And once we all mesh it together, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Harden Credits Sam Cassell for Shooting Improvement
One part of Harden’s game that looked marked improved was his mid-range jumper. He was pulling up at the elbows with ease against Milwaukee while getting into the lane for easy floaters. He credited Sixers assistant coach Sam Cassell – a player known as the “Mid-Range Master” during his career — for mentoring him.
“I’ve been working on my game this summer,” Harden said. “So, I just took what the defense gave me. I had a couple threes that I missed, but you can’t control that. You put the work in, and you live with the results. So, tonight they gave me mid-range shots, and I took them.”
James Harden called Sam Cassell a mentor. Been working extra with him to improve his midrange jumper. Mutual respect there. #Sixers #HereTheyCome
Harden finished with 31 points in 40 minutes, going 13-of-24 from the field and only getting to the free-throw line twice.