Giannis Antetokounmpo Sends Message on James Harden After Bucks Crush Sixers

James Harden Philadelphia 76ers

Getty Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Over the course of the 2022-23 regular season, the Philadelphia 76ers have been home to one of the most potent offensive duos in the NBA in James Harden and Joel Embiid.

Much of the damage comes from the pick and roll. Embiid is scoring a league-best 8.3 points per game off of pick and rolls, while James Harden is more than adept at dishing to the big man or taking the rock to the hoop himself.

One of the duo’s trademark plays comes off of a pocket pass from Harden, the basketball equivalent of the wall pass in soccer.

After the Bucks dismantled the Sixers in a 13-point, 117-104 loss Sunday night, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo praised Harden’s vision while explaining how the Bucks looked to limit the All-Star’s effectiveness.

“He’s a great player. He can read the pick-and-roll really well,” Antetokounmpo said of Harden after the game, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Going to his left, he usually tries to throw the pocket pass to Joel, or throw it back, or throw it to the corner. And we just tried to make it as difficult as you can for him to make that pass.”

Antetokoumpo also offered a sneak peak into how the Bucks broke up those pocket passes.

“There were times that he made that pass. There were times that we were able to get deflections. There were times that Jrue (Holiday) stole the ball. Sometimes I kicked the ball. I think it just gets them out of rhythm. We knew that coming in, and we were just trying to get them out of rhythm, trying to make him go all the way to Brook or Bobby (Portis) or me. Eliminate the pocket pass to Joel as much as we can,” Antetokoumpo finished.

It was a tough night at the office for Harden and Embiid, the former of which recorded five turnovers.


Jrue Holiday Praises James Harden in Sixers Loss to Bucks

Antetokoumpo wasn’t the only one who spoke about the ways the Bucks sought to keep the Sixers’ stars from getting hot.

“[K]eeping James off the 3-point line, trying to get him in there doing floaters,” Holiday said. “Since he’s such a great passer, just really having hands, trying to show bodies so that he doesn’t really see anybody. So James was going to (have to) go off (to beat us). Either he was going for 40 or 50, which is kind of difficult, or hopefully have a game like tonight where he just kind of gave it to me a couple times.”

The Bucks were wildly effective at keeping Harden from getting going from distance. The Beard finished 1-3 from three en route to just 11 points and a minus-12 net rating.


Bucks Coach Sounds Off on MVP Race

Embiid finished with 28 points and nine rebounds in the loss against Antetokoumpo, another MVP heavyweight.

Though Embiid is still the betting favorite to win this year’s MVP, Antetkoumpo isn’t far behind. And according to Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, there’s no debating who the award should go to.

“I mean we certainly feel like Giannis is the MVP,” Budenholzer said about the NBA’s MVP race, per the Cube Rubik YouTube channel. “I think what our team has been able to do and we’ve still got some more work to have the best record in the league, but the best player, best record, what he does on both ends of the court, the rebounding, the blocked shots, the defense, the guarding on the perimeter, he does everything. He play makes, attacks, gets to the free throw line. So we feel like he’s in the conversation or he should be the guy. But I think he’s focused on our team, he’s focused on winning. His mind is in a good place and hopefully, everybody sees the MVP kind of season and performance he’s had all year.”

The Sixers will take on the Boston Celtics and MVP longshot Jayson Tatum on Tuesday night.