James Harden's Sixers debut goes as Daryl Morey dreamed
James Harden has arrived with the Philadelphia 76ers, and the results so far have been about what Daryl Morey must have dreamed when he brought in the former MVP.
Harden posted 27 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 12 assists, eight rebounds and only two turnovers in his debut for the Sixers in a 133-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, the team's biggest win of the season and tied for its highest scoring output of the season. He averaged a comically efficient 2.25 points for every field goal attempt
The Sixers version of James Harden very much resembled the James Harden of the Houston Rockets, drawing fouls (8-of-9 free throw shooting), shooting 3-pointers (3-of-5 from deep) and making passes. Those five 3-pointers matched the number Ben Simmons reached in four seasons in Philadelphia.
That included stuff like this, which will no doubt be familiar for Harden followers:
James Harden with the stepback and-1 😬🎯pic.twitter.com/drfqwh96st
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 26, 2022
Even more promising for the Sixers was how Harden played alongside their MVP candidate, Joel Embiid. The big man finished with 34 points (10-of-18 shooting), 10 rebounds and three assists. All together, the duo either made or assisted on 28 of the Sixers' 39 field goals before they both subbed out for the night.
There were some questions on how the Sixers would balance their offense between Embiid and Harden when they traded Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round draft picks for the guard and Paul Millsap, but the results were good on Friday.
"You should have seen my face, every single time," Embiid said after the game. "That was probably the most wide open I've ever been in my career. I had a lot of easy baskets."
In Embiid and Harden, the Sixers have two players who can both score and pass from everywhere on the court, making the act of guarding just them a massive strain on the defense.
And this is the fun of Harden/Embiid two man game. Defense has to make a decision. Embiid DHO to Harden with an empty side. KAT is in a drop and chooses to shade toward Embiid. That's a clear runway from James Harden. pic.twitter.com/ytKTyGBrk9
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) February 26, 2022
It wasn't just the Embiid-Harden show though, as Tyrese Maxey, the player the Sixers refused to include in the Harden trade, chipped in 28 points as well.