It likely didn’t unfold exactly how James Harden imagined, but the Sixers’ All-Star guard won his home debut Wednesday night, helping his team come back to beat the Knicks and improve to 3-0 with him on the court.
He posted 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a 123-108 victory by the Sixers.
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points.
The Sixers will face the Cavaliers on Friday night in Philadelphia. Here are observations on their win over New York:
Harden has to work for first home win
Harden and the Sixers narrowly missed a couple of potential immediate crowd-pleasers.
The team started 2 for 9 from the floor and Harden saw a wing three-pointer and floater both rattle around the hoop and out. The floater attempt was an open one after a nice double drag action with Tobias Harris and Embiid. Harden also committed a turnover trying an audacious, full-court pass for Matisse Thybulle. Jericho Sims grabbed an offensive board and laid the ball in to put New York ahead 18-9.
It didn’t take long for Harden to flip the game’s momentum, though. He converted an and-one layup and a a step-back three. Thybulle then sized up a transition triple and canned it to tie the game at 20-all, breaking a 1-for-16 stretch from long range.
Harden settled into a familiar groove and didn’t seem to have much trouble scoring 19 first-half points.
There were no questions about Harden’s intelligence, but he’s looked strong physically. His straight-line drives have been explosive, and he was determined Wednesday to play through contact and ensure a home debut win.
Defensive problems in non-Embiid minutes
The game seriously soured for the Sixers when Embiid headed to the bench.
Harden could not carry lineups with himself and three or four bench players to success, missing two foul shots and an end-of-quarter three-pointer, and the Sixers trailed 44-28 early in the second quarter after an easy dunk by RJ Barrett, who finished with 30 points and seven assists.
It would be difficult to exaggerate how poor the Sixers’ defense was during that period, both in transition and in the half court. No player on the floor made a positive defensive impact and the entire group looked a couple of steps behind. Even with Furkan Korkmaz on the bench following another bad stint, the Knicks were comfortable attacking any Sixer on the floor. Harden’s five steals and the Sixers managing to force frequent New York turnovers covered up some of the team’s defensive issues Sunday against the Knicks, but stops look quite tough to string together when Embiid and Thybulle are out.
One glaring weak spot was rim protection. Rivers stuck with Paul Millsap as Embiid’s backup and the veteran provided little meaningful deterrence to Knicks drivers. Defensive rebounding was also bothersome for the Sixers in the first half, although much of that was simply a byproduct of New York’s big men beating out Embiid.
Rivers said before the game he was unsure how the Sixers’ backup center situation would ultimately shake out. He even mentioned the idea of a committee approach but noted that was not his preference. Despite Rivers indicating pregame that Willie Cauley-Stein would get a chance in the rotation soon, the 28-year-old did not play until the final minute and 15 seconds.
The Sixers outscored the Knicks by two points in Millsap’s second-half minutes, which felt like a huge win given the team’s continued defensive shakiness. Maxey’s presence was massive as he lifted the Sixers with an aggressive mindset and step-back three. Kentucky head coach John Calipari watched it all from his courtside seat.
Embiid grinned after seeing Maxey make a difficult three to extend the Sixers’ lead to 112-99 in the fourth quarter. Through three games, the Sixers have a bona fide scoring trio.
Korkmaz didn’t appear in the second half until garbage time. Perhaps he’ll receive another chance at some stage, but removing him from the rotation was warranted and could certainly have happened sooner.
Still crucial to feed Embiid
Just like on Sunday, Embiid drew two early fouls on Mitchell Robinson. But Embiid was frustrated throughout the first half.
He turned the ball over three times before halftime, disagreed with several whistles, and picked up a technical foul in the second quarter. Robinson even blocked an Embiid jumper, which is a rare sight. The game after attempting a career-high 27 free throws, Embiid went 11 for 13 from the foul line.
Harden stared down a wide-open three to begin the third quarter but instead opted to hit Embiid in the paint. The unselfish decision paid off as Embiid made a leaning, and-one layup. Embiid then drained a three assisted by Harden on the Sixers’ next possession and the team’s deficit was suddenly just one point.
No one would’ve minded Harden trying that long-distance jumper, but it’s obvious he recognizes the Sixers are at their best when Embiid is fully focused and confident. Harden is happy to bail everyone out with fantastic, tricky playmaking, but he’s on a team that should thrive offensively if he prioritizes efficiency and feeding Embiid. So far, that’s going great.
Tobias Harris picked up his third foul early in the third quarter and then experienced a rough offensive patch. Harden was irritated when Harris declined an open three and dribbled into traffic instead, keeping his eyes on the veteran forward and telling him “Come on” as the Sixers got back on defense.
Harris’ production did improve relative to the past two games, though, as he recorded 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting, seven rebounds and two blocks.
