Sixers’ Brett Brown: James Harden may be best isolation scorer ever

Sixers coach Brett Brown seems to agree with Houston GM Daryl Morey’s assessment that James Harden could be the best isolation scorer ever.

Nearly two years ago, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey first made waves by suggesting that James Harden could be the best isolation player in NBA history ⁠— even over the likes of legends such as Michael Jordan.

It seems Morey has some new support for that premise in the form of Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown.

Speaking at a morning shootaround in advance of Friday’s game between the Sixers (23-13) and Rockets (23-11), Brown said this of Harden:

If you look at James Harden in an isolation environment, he may be the greatest scorer in the history of our game.

I mean that.

The above tweet of Brown’s quote was quickly retweeted by Morey.

In the 2019-20 season to date, Harden entered Friday averaging 38.2 points per game, which would be the highest season total of any NBA player in 56 years and the most ever by a guard.

Though Harden’s shot attempts are down slightly from 2018-19 to 2019-20, his scoring per game has risen from 36.1 to 38.2 points largely due to superior efficiency. His overall shooting is up from 44.2% to 46.1%, and his 3-point clip from 36.8% to 38.3%. Harden’s true shooting percentage, which also incorporates free throws, has jumped from 61.6% to 64.2%.

Over the final 10 games of December 2019, Harden shot 52.6% from the floor, including 50.0% or better in each of the past six games — representing the longest such streak of his career. He has shot 50.0% or better in 16 of his 33 games played (48.5%) this season after doing so in 23 of his 78 games played (29.5%) in the 2018-19 season.

Since a brief slump in the season’s first nine games, Harden has finished at 50.0% or better from the field in 15 of his last 24 games (62.5%).

The Sixers do have considerable perimeter length to guard Harden with the likes of Josh Richardson and Ben Simmons, along with Joel Embiid as a rim protector inside. Based on Brown’s praise, however, it certainly wouldn’t be a shock if the Sixers commit to frequent traps and double teams in an effort to make other Rockets beat them in Friday’s game.

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