James Harden’s Return To Form Gives The Sixers Reason For Hope

SportsMoney James Harden’s Return To Form Gives The Sixers Reason For Hope Bryan Toporek Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Oct 26, 2022, 08:00am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 24: James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts during the .

. . [+] fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center on October 24, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) Getty Images The Philadelphia 76ers got their first win of the 2022-23 NBA season on Monday with a 120-106 victory over the rebuilding Indiana Pacers. Following their rocky opening week , it was a much-needed sigh of relief ahead of a four-game road trip against the Toronto Raptors (twice), Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.

Star center Joel Embiid finished with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting and eight rebounds in only 28 minutes against the Pacers, but James Harden was once again the star of the show. He finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting (including 5-of-10 from deep), 11 assists, nine rebounds, two steals and only one turnover. Although Harden had a dud against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, he’s otherwise gotten off to a torrid start.

In doing so, he’s answering the biggest question that loomed over the Sixers heading into the season. It wasn’t long ago that Harden was the NBA’s most feared scorer. He led the league in points per game for three straight seasons (2017-18 through 2019-20), largely courtesy of a high volume of three-pointers and free-throw attempts.

However, he suffered a hamstring injury during the 2021 NBA playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets, and he never quite looked like his former self last year between Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Upon his arrival in Brooklyn in January 2021, Harden wasn’t as prolific of a scorer as he was in Houston, but he was far more efficient. He shot 47.

1 percent overall and 36. 6 percent from three-point range during his 36 regular-season appearances with the Nets, which was a significant jump over his last few seasons in Houston (44. 5 percent overall and 36.

3 percent from deep). MORE FOR YOU Livestream Shopping Stays Hot As Whatnot Valuation More Than Doubles To $3. 7 Billion New Aston Villa Manager Unai Emery Has A Point To Prove In The Premier League What To Expect From Capital One Stock In Q3? Harden never quite found his footing as a scorer last year, particularly in Philly.

He averaged only 21. 0 points while shooting 40. 2 percent overall and 32.

6 percent from deep, although he did average 10. 5 assists per game during his 21 regular-season outings with the Sixers. The off-the-dribble burst that helped him fuel his historic seasons in Houston was nowhere to be found, though.

“Since we got him, everybody expected the Houston James Harden,” Embiid told reporters after the Sixers lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. “But that’s not who he is anymore. He’s more of a playmaker.

” If these first few games are any indication, reports of Houston Harden’s demise might have been premature. Harden looks more spry early on this season than he did last year, but he still isn’t routinely blowing by defenders. Instead, he appears to have evolved his game to account for the effects of Father Time.

Nearly half (133) of Harden’s 286 regular-season field-goal attempts with the Sixers last year were above-the-break three-pointers (133). Most of the rest were in the restricted area (76) and in the paint (54), while he took only 15 mid-range shots in those 21 games. In only four games this year, Harden has already taken 14 mid-range shots .

He’s 10-of-14 on those looks. Harden is also 7-of-12 in the restricted area and 7-of-16 on paint shots beyond the restricted area, while he’s 12-for-30 on above-the-break threes. Harden isn’t just doing this against rebuilding teams, either.

He had 35 points on 9-of-14 shooting, eight rebounds and seven assists against the Boston Celtics, who have the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Smart and other plus defenders such as Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon and Jaylen Brown. He had 31 points on 13-of-24 shooting, nine assists and eight rebounds two nights later against the Milwaukee Bucks, who largely defended him with four-time All-Defensive team selection Jrue Holiday. After the Bucks game, Harden spoke about the concerted effort he’s making to vary up his shot diet this season.

“Just giving defenses different looks—having a variety, a package of things that you can go to,” he said. “Not being so predictable. For me, just trying to keep the defense on their heels.

” That isn’t to say there isn’t still room for Harden and the Sixers offense to grow. The Sixers head into Wednesday night’s game with the Raptors with the league’s 13th-ranked offense and the slowest pace of any team. Harden, who’s averaging the second-most touches per game leaguewide (trailing only Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic) and is among the league leaders in average seconds per touch and average dribbles per touch, deserves some of the blame for that.

“We really focused on that this morning: Just get the ball up,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said after Monday night’s win. “Our goal was to get it across half court by 20. I don’t think we accomplished that goal a lot, but we did get it up there.

” While Harden’s isolation-heavy play caused the Rockets to rank 27th in pace in 2018-19, they were third in 2016-17 and second in 2019-20 . In other words, he isn’t the only reason why the Sixers aren’t getting into their offense quickly. As they tighten up their defense and begin forcing more turnovers, that should help them generate a higher volume of run-out buckets, easing the pressure on their half-court offense.

The Sixers need to find more ways to get Harden going off the ball, too. Nearly 80 percent of his made shots have been unassisted so far, which is in line with his splits in past years, but he wasn’t playing with a double-team-drawing machine in Embiid and another playmaker like Tyrese Maxey back then. Embiid got the assist on four of Harden’s eight assisted buckets to date, while P.

J. Tucker (two), Tobias Harris (one) and Danuel House Jr. (one) were responsible for the other ones.

Empowering Maxey to run the half-court offense at times could create more catch-and-shoot looks for Harden. He’s taken 45 pull-up jumpers and only six catch-and-shoot attempts, which is not the recipe for sustainable playoff success. The Sixers still have 78 regular-season games to optimize their usage of Harden before the postseason begins.

But the early returns from him this season should have them optimistic about their championship chances, despite their middling 1-3 record to date. “He’s been doing great,” Embiid said about Harden after Monday’s win. “I’m happy for him.

And we’re going to need it. We’re going to need it for him to be confident and really feel himself. And he’s been doing it.

” Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA. com , PBPStats , Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference . All salary information via Spotrac or RealGM .

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