They needed a star. They’ve got a super dud.
They had Batman. Robin was not attending.
The $33 million man? The Sixers are two losses away from making a $200 million mistake.
Boston battered Philadelphia 114-102 on Friday to take a 2-1 series lead. Joel Embiid, in his second game from a knee injury, was excellent. Score 30 points. He pulled down 13 rebounds. Block five shots. Embiid dragged around his right knee, with a massive knee brace concealed under a white long sleeve, and ripped through 39 minutes. One night the NBA officially crowned its MVP award, Embiid gave the Sixers the chance.
And James Harden took it for him.
Officially, Harden finished with 16 points and 11 assists. whatever. He made three of his 14 shots. He connected two of his seven triples. He had five turnovers… in the first half. Hesitation on jump shots. He refused to throw the ball. The aggressive player and pitcher who led the Embiid-less Sixers to victory in Game One? gold. When Harden made mistakes, he pointed out to his teammates. Harden’s shooting percentage in the last two games (17.9%) is the lowest during a two-game span of his career.
“It’s completely indecisive,” ESPN analyst Doris Burke said in the third quarter.
Let’s put it more bluntly: Harden stunk.
No, it was not a one-man iceberg. Therese Maxi finished 4 of 16 from the floor. But Maxi was supposed to be good. Harden is supposed to be great. He is the former MVP and scoring champion who wanted Philadelphia to win the series opener. Since then he has not attended.
Credit Boston. After the first game, Jaylen Brown went to coach Joe Mazzola. Let me defend Harden, Brown said. Brown knew Marcus Smart messed up. He wanted to lighten the burden. Mazola agreed. In Game 2, the Browns pressured Harden. body for him. Harden was forced to work around his 6’7 frame.
“We’re just trying to make it work,” Mazzola said. “He’s a great player who can score at all three levels. We’re just trying to make him work as much as we can. Try to get him off the free throw line.”
Sixers coach Doc Rivers said, “There were a few times we came out of the timeout and we thought we had a lane. I thought we were more trying to dodge the Snake than just going straight down and making plays. That’s something we talked about. Getting into the paint hard and fast. And if Come on, put on plays.”
they did not. hardened he did not do. The Celtics are better than the Sixers. Including the regular season, they have taken five of the last seven from Philadelphia. Embiid needed to score 52 against a Boston team fewer than Brown to win late in the regular season. And the Celtics’ vaunted defense had to collapse to take Philly in game one.
Sixers need Harden. in a bad manner. not to be good. to be great. Post-season fade work became very popular for Harden. His bad hard time numbers. In important matches, they are even worse. On Friday, Embiid said his advice to Harden was to keep shooting. “You can’t go too high, and you can’t go too low,” Embiid said. His message to his team: Play better.
“The players have to show up,” Embiid said. “I have to do my job… You can make any adjustments you want. But if the players don’t run and don’t show up and we don’t kick the ball, that’s on us. I have to be better. We all have to be better.”
Sunday Game 4 is not great for the 76ers. that it particle. They lost, it’s over. They don’t take three out of four against the Celtics, not with two of them in Boston. And Philly is at a crossroads. It has a pair of superstars and an expensive roster that has never before played in the Conference Finals. Harden will likely enter free agency this summer looking for a four-year, $210 million deal the Sixers can offer him. And with reports of Houston sniffing around – we can argue later how crazy it was that The point is – the Sixers will have to decide if it’s worth it.
Harden has played in some big matches in his career. in Oklahoma City. in Houston. in Brooklyn. Sunday will be one of the biggest. Philly needs to match the intensity of Boston. “They generally win the possession game,” Rivers said. They need Maxi to get up. They need the offense to flow more smoothly, Embiid said, “Don’t hold the ball too much.”
But they need Harden. they truly Harden need. Harden’s NBA future is at stake in this series. Recovered, he would be handsomely rewarded for serving as an Embiid for years to come. He lost, and his run could end in Philadelphia. Sunday is a big game for Harden. He can’t wilt.