Getty Joel Embiid #21 and James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers speak in a break against the Toronto Raptors during the second half of their basketball game at the Scotiabank Arena on October 26, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
There were plenty of eyes on James Harden as the Philadelphia 76ers’ star made his return to the court following a monthlong absence due to a right foot tendon strain. He made his return in Houston against the Rockets, but the results were far from what Harden and the Sixers hoped. The Rockets secured a 132-123 victory in double-overtime in which Harden ended with 21 points and seven assists on 4-19 shooting from the field.
Following the game, he was asked about his return and did his best to put a positive spin on it. As Harden put it, “I feel good. We didn’t come away with the win like we wanted to, but for myself personally, I felt good. Too many turnovers, easy shots that I missed that just felt rusty for whatever reason, but definitely a game we should’ve won,” per Ky Carlin of SixersWire.
Harden Questions Minutes Limit?
One thing Harden did not seem as happy about was the minutes limit he was on. Doc Rivers revealed to reporters before the game that the plan was to ease back the 33-year-old to play. However, this plan was abandoned due to the double overtime periods as Harden ended with 38 minutes of play.
When asked about this following the game, Harden discussed the minutes limit and mentioned it impacting his ability to find his flow. As he put it, “The whole minutes restriction was kind of weird to me just because I play the first five minutes, then I come out. Then in the second quarter was kind of the same thing, and then the third quarter, I come out the first five minutes and don’t come back in the whole third quarter, you know what I mean? Then I play the whole fourth quarter so it was like, I just didn’t know. I was all over the place. I’m not used to it or whatever. So now making excuses. I gotta be better.”
The biggest evidence was in the second overtime period in which Harden was subbed out with 4:05 remaining in the period and then brought back with 2:27 left to play. Whether the logic was to limit wear and tear on Harden or to give the team the best chance of winning was unclear, but regardless it did not deem to work out as planned.
“That was my idol. That’s someone that I’ve put a lot of work in when it comes to film and study before I even got to the NBA.”
– Kevin Porter Jr. on James Harden
Harden’s Outlook Moving Forward
While the former MVP may rightfully just need some time to shake some rust off, it was far from an inspired performance in his first game back. The seven turnovers were especially glaring and shooting 0-8 on shots inside the three-point arc is also discouraging. The growth he showed in the midrange to start the season was not put on display and the Sixers were forced to live and die with the isolation step-back three-pointer as is often the criticism of Harden.
The most notable storyline moving forward will be getting Embiid and Harden on the same page. The Sixers now sit at 12-12 on the season. They are 2-1 in games with just Harden, 5-4 in games with just Embiid, and 2-5 when both of them are on the floor. Both players are incredibly ball-dominant but must figure out how to maximize each other. The Sixers will not reach their ceiling as a team until this is the case rather than the “my turn, your turn” style of play that is currently being seen.
Had to go back and watch this back and looks like James Harden’s shot was blocked which makes me feel slightly better than him passing out of the shot
With that being said, Embiid and Harden just have to create better offense than this
Saw the down side of Hero-ball tonight
This will take some time to fully develop, but will the ceiling of this Sixers roster is greatly dependent on it. Having things click 100% in Harden’s first game back would have been a surprise, but both stars made some crucial mistakes down the stretch which hurt the team in a major way. The duo combined for 12 of the Sixers’ 20 turnovers including eight of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime periods.
Hopefully, a few days of practice together will help pave this path and Harden kicks off some of the rust moving forward. The Sixers will need a much better overall effort when they return to the court on Friday against the Lakers who are 8-2 in their last 10 games.