Getty James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Wells Fargo Center on January 02, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
There were high hopes when the Philadelphia 76ers traded for James Harden and rightfully so. The former MVP and three-time scoring champ has one of the most impressive peaks of any player in the history of the NBA due to his unique combination of scoring and playmaking ability. Before the Sixers tipped off against the Pacers, head coach Rick Carlisle was asked about the standout guard and was not shy to praise him.
As Carlisle stated, “He’s one of the best one-on-one players in the history of the game. He won the MVP essentially being the guy that put the Houston Rockets team upon his back and just was the creator of a lot. There was, a lot of it was pick-and-roll, but a lot of it was just flat-out manufacturing off the dribble, which is hard to do. You know, there’s just a few guys in the game that have that capability.” The head coach went on to talk about how much he hated matching up with Harden twice a year when he was coaching the Mavericks.
JAMES HARDEN STEPBACK. 🔥🔥
Harden’s Play vs Pacers
With Joel Embiid out due to a foot injury, it was put to the test if Harden is still capable as a lead option. In his 43 minutes of play in the 129-126 overtime victory, Harden ended with 26 points, eight assists, six rebounds, a steal, and two blocks.
He uncharacteristically missed a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left to play with the Sixers up one point during the overtime period. Harden did not let the misses bother him and came up with a block on the other end to help seal the deal. As he put it following the win, “I had to make up for it.”
The Sixers rolled with a three-guard lineup of Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and De’Anthony Melton for most of the matchup. This has been something Doc Rivers has teased for several weeks and it helped the Sixers to play with an increased pace. While the nine points in overtime helped inflate this, the 129 points Philadelphia tallied is their fourth-best scoring performance of the year.
Just an absolutely unreal play from Tyrese Maxey
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Harden Stepping Up On… Defense?
While his offensive gifts have been the story of Harden’s career, it has at times come at the expense of his defense. The former MVP has shown a tendency to get lazy chasing guys off the ball and oftentimes needs others to cover for his mistakes.
The Pacers put this to the test and made a conscious effort to attack Harden. Especially down the stretch, they attempted to isolate Harden on Tyrese Haliburton. While Haliburton got the better of the matchup at times, for the most part, Harden held up. He competed on an every-possession basis and made use of his active hands. The focus on going at Harden also interrupted the flow of the Indiana offense in a way that did not benefit them.
Haliburton put Harden on skates 😬
After the game, Harden was asked if he takes it personally when it feels a team is targeting him. The Sixers guard admitted he does and put it, “For sure. They got me one time, but if a guy is up there dribbling the ball 15 times, I feel like I’m on an island so I just had to man up and get some stops. I think I did a solid job.”
Doc Rivers also spoke highly of Harden’s effort defensively. The head coach said he has noticed an increased defensive effort over the past few games and put it, “He’s trying. He’s playing hard and he has to. You know, when you talk about it as a group -not just with James- you can’t all say you want to win but don’t want to do it on both ends. James is doing that for us. The last two or three games he’s been great defensively. That’s what we need him to be.”
While at times in his career Harden’s offensive workload has been so much that it was possible to overlook the defensive issues, this is no longer the case. If the Sixers are to find success this year it will take Harden buying in on this side of the ball for it to be possible. It is a great sign to see him giving this type of effort and the results were put on display in this victory.