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It’s only a small two-game sample size for how good the Philadelphia 76ers’ new dynamic duo of James Harden and Joel Embiid can be. Embiid called them “unstoppable” after they pounded the New York Knicks into submission with a devastating pick-and-roll game. Harden gives them the dual-threat guard the franchise has been searching for.
The 2018 MVP notched a triple-double on Sunday while setting up teammates and getting to the free-throw line. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was asked for his reaction to the NBA’s newest Super Team. His reaction? There is “no question” that the Sixers’ new starting five is already among the best in the league.
“That’s the problem, it’s not just those guys,” Thibodeau told reporters. “You know, [Tobias] Harris and they surround him with good shooting and [Tyrese] Maxey, he can break you down off the dribble as well. But, when you have two dynamic players like that, it puts a lot of pressure on you. And then the initial part is you can take care of it and then it’s your second and third part of it that is the problem.
“If they’re generating and there’s speed and there’s contact there’s going to be — some games it’s marginal contact and it’s not a foul; other games it is [a foul] — and so that’s where you have to adjust. And you have to be in early and get out early. And you have to pull your hands back and stay down on shot fakes and that sort of thing.”
Philadelphia got to the charity stripe 44 times against New York, with Embiid and Harden accounting for 37 of those trips. Those two players drew contact at will, often getting the benefit of the doubt on questionable foul calls. Get over it. Embiid and Harden have gone 52-for-59 in eight quarters together. Yes, they are going live at the line and be problematic.
“There’s a physicality to it with Embiid and Harden,” Thibodeau said. “He’s a power guard so we can’t be reaching in, we have to be disciplined.”
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Harden Ignores Nay-Sayers, Helping Teammates
Many outsiders have questioned Harden’s commitment to the game of basketball, saying he faked a hamstring injury to get out of Brooklyn. They look at him playing for three different teams in two years as a pockmark on his legacy. That’s not the case, according to Harden. Don’t get it twisted.
“I feel really good. I had to make sure my body, my mind, was where I needed it to be,” Harden told ESPN’s Cassidy Habbarth. “No matter what the nay-sayers or whoever — I know my body and I love basketball, don’t ever get that twisted. So it was definitely difficult the last year and a half to miss all those games, but I love to be on this g****** court.”
And playing alongside Embiid has been the Fountain of Youth. They are impossible to game-plan for.
“Very difficult, very difficult,” Harden said of stopping them. “He’s very versatile. He’s able to do a lot of things on the court which makes everybody’s job easier. My job is to complement these guys, to help our shooters get shots, to encourage Tyrese [Maxey to be aggressive, Tobias [Harris] to be aggressive, and ultimately go out there and do what I do every single night.”
Maxey Learning How to Mesh with Harden
A loud majority voiced an opinion that there was no way Harden and Maxey would thrive together. The 10-time All-Star would eat into Maxey’s minutes and stunt his growth. Well, the opposite has happened over the first two games into this experiment. The second-year guard out of Kentucky is averaging 24.5 points per game, significantly up from his pre-All-Star break scoring average of 16.8 per game.
“I know when James is not in the game, I’ll probably have the ball in my hands and have to create for myself and others,” Maxey told reporters, via Sixers Wire. “I know when he’s in the game, he’ll be on the ball for the most part and I’ll have to knock down shots, play off closeouts, and do my job.”
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