A new era of Philadelphia 76ers basketball began on Friday night, as former MVP and future Hall-of-Famer James Harden debuted for the franchise. The Sixers traded for Harden — along with Paul Millsap — prior to the trade deadline earlier this month, but his debut was delayed as he continued to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered as a member of the Brooklyn Nets. It finally came against the Timberwolves in Minnesota, and for Sixers fans, it was worth the wait.
You don’t want to take too much from a single game, but Harden’s first game in a Sixers uniform couldn’t have gone any better. In 35 minutes of action, Harden did exactly what we’ve become accustomed to seeing him do for the past decade — score the basketball at an elite level and rack up assists thanks to all of the attention that he draws when he’s on the floor. His play was a big reason the Sixers rolled to a commanding 133-102 victory over a Timberwolves team that already bested the Sixers once this season.
Harden’s numbers — 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds — were impressive (and Hardenesque, for lack of a better word) especially given the fact that he was simultaneously playing in his first game in more than three weeks and his first game with an entirely new team.
What makes Harden’s numbers even more impressive is how he amassed them: efficiently and within the framework of Philadelphia’s offense. Harden needed just 12 field goal attempts to compile his 27 points, and he converted five of his seven three-point attempts. He also knocked down eight of his nine free throws. He didn’t force things but rather took what the game gave him.
The Sixers’ offense still largely ran through Joel Embiid when he was on the floor, and Harden was extremely proactive when it came to moving the basketball, as evidenced by his 12 assists. When Embiid went to the bench, Harden became a little bit more aggressive on the offensive end. A perimeter player like Harden that the team can run an offense through when the big man is on the bench is something that the Sixers have desperately needed, and now they finally have it.
Everyone around Harden was able to get theirs, too. Embiid continued his dominant, MVP-level play with a 34-point, 10-rebound performance, and Tyrese Maxey poured in 28 points, quickly answering the question of whether or not he’d be able to fit well alongside Harden in the backcourt.
The rest of the roster also benefitted from all the added attention that Harden drew. As a team, the Sixers knocked down 19 3’s — compared to just nine for Minnesota — and a lot of those opportunities were open ones. Seriously, look how wide open Maxey was for this attempt because Minnesota’s defenders were all concerned with Embiid and Harden:
Such space will continue to be the case. As long as Harden and Embiid are out on the floor together, they will continue to command the bulk of the opposing defense’s attention. So the shots will be there for Philadelphia’s ancillary shooters. They just need to knock them down at a reasonable rate. If they can do that the Sixers will become exceedingly dangerous moving forward.
After the game, Embiid was all smiles when discussing the space that Harden generates for his teammates. “That was probably the most wide open I’ve ever been in my career,” Embiid exclaimed in his walk-off interview. “You should have seen my face. I was like ‘We’ve never had this!’ Nothing close to it. So hopefully, that continues.”
Embiid has reason to be excited. After all, a guard that generates so much space with his shot is a stark contrast to what the Sixers had in Ben Simmons, the player Harden was traded for. Embiid and Simmons were never a natural fit given the latter’s aversion to shooting, and because of that, Harden has the potential to be a much snugger fit alongside Embiid. In many ways, Harden could prove to be an ideal counterpart to the MVP candidate.
Plus, Embiid and Harden showed off some early chemistry on Friday night. The two consistently ran pick-and-roll and dribble handoff action over the course of the contest, and Harden found Embiid with some smooth dimes as a result. The chemistry between the two stars should only improve, too.
Great debuts are nothing new for Harden. In fact, he has now had 25-plus points and 12-plus assists in each of his last three team debuts, per ESPN. Obviously, he was going to want to make a good impression in his first game with his new squad after forcing his way out of Brooklyn. The level of play that we saw on Friday night will have to be sustained if the Sixers are going to reach their ceiling as a bonafide championship contender. The win over the Wolves was a great start though, and it certainly provided Philadelphia with plenty of reason for optimism. Daryl Morey’s decision to wait until the 11th hour to trade Ben Simmons is looking pretty good right now.
