Sixers still have good shot … if Harden hits more of his
PHILADELPHIA » When the Sixers acquired James Harden at the trade deadline, his left hamstring was too sore to allow him to play.
Give it time, Doc Rivers said.
When Harden regained health and joined the lineup, he was a little uncomfortable with the Sixers’ offensive ways.
Don’t worry about it, Harden said, claiming he was a quick learner.
When that hamstring issue seemed to affect his shooting, the response was standard, even when he shot 2-for-11 and 4-for-15 and 4-for-10 and 4-for-13, and 4-for-10 and 3-for-12.
He will be better in the playoffs, the mantra went.
That’s what the Sixers believed. That’s what they meant. So when Harden, three times an NBA scoring champ, shot a lackluster 5-for-17 in a 110102 first-round playoff loss in Toronto Saturday, the script was as expected as it was tired.
“James is a heck of a player,” Rivers said, after the Raptors closed a series deficit to 3-1. “I’m not concerned at all. James is going to make shots.”
Everybody in an NBA game makes shots. That’s why they’re in the NBA. Markelle Fultz, for the love of all things good, made shots. But the Sixers acquired Harden to make long shots, and short shots, and foul shots, and late shots, and shots at the buzzer, and shots against double-teams
and shots that show up on highlight tapes. They knew he was 32, but since when is that a tipping point for NBA effectiveness? Didn’t that deal with the Nets include a two-way wink that Harden and the Sixers would commit to each other for another year, or maybe two?
So why is the Hall of Famer-to-be playing more like a James Harden tribute band than the real act? And if that real act is coming, then this would be a good time, since the Sixers are about to play the rest of the postseason with Joel Embiid’s
shooting-hand thumb unhinged, and so it would be best to reach Round 2 before the Raptors become a problem.
To Harden’s credit, he understood that the best way to maximize the Sixers’ potential was to keep Embiid, who was fixated on earning an MVP plaque, happy. For that, he was content to be the ideal ball-distributor for the way the Sixers were constructed. Tyrese Maxey has benefited from Harden’s vision, as has Tobias Harris. Embiid was great before Harden arrived, and then he became better.
Harden has not been
a bad player for the Sixers. He just hasn’t been at his best. From December of 2018 through February of 2019, he scored 30 or more points in 32 consecutive games, the second longest streak in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 65game blast in 1965-66. But in 25 appearances as a Sixer, Harden has reached the 30-mark just once, going for 32 against Milwaukee nearly a month ago. Even if flipping a 30-burger every night is unrealistic with the way the Sixers are constructed, it’s not like he hasn’t had the opportunities. He just misses
shots. And it’s no longer early in his Sixers career.
“He’s going to make plays,” Rivers said, predictably running to the rescue after Game 4. “He’s doing a lot of driving, so he’s in the trees a lot. Those are difficult shots. He also had nine assists and 22 points.
“I thought James was actually locked in. I really did. We just didn’t play right to help him out.”
Harden was fine Saturday, and he was very good earlier in the series. But there comes a time when a player making $44 million a season must be better than fine, to finish plays in the trees and everyplace else.
Harden has had four 60-point-plus games in his career, including as recently as 201920. That requires expert three-point shooting. He is 9-for-23 from the arc in the Toronto series, a strong percentage. But if Embiid is destined to play the rest of the tournament in pain, Harden must make up for some of the expected diminished scoring.
“It’s not about anybody but ourselves,” Harden said. “We need to focus on things that we can control and I think we will be great.”
The Sixers are deep enough to make a long playoff run. Looks like the Nets are about to go, so that’s a break. Devin Booker is injured in Phoenix, so that could prove to be a break. Atlanta is giving Miami problems. Embiid’s thumb injury is not a break, literally or otherwise. But he is ready to play with one and a half properly functioning hands, and he has the support group to make it work.
That begins with Harden.
As something of an ice- breaker Saturday, Rivers quipped, “He’s a better player than I was.” OK. But that is a comment best reserved for when both are retired. As for the next seven weeks, the Sixers need James Harden to be better than almost anybody. Because the window to dismiss his ordinary shooting has closed.