Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden is one of the elite scorers in NBA history. He has led the league in scoring in his career three times, he won the MVP award in 2018, and he has had countless nights where he makes scoring 40 points so easy.
In Sunday’s 114-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns, Harden was not able to get it going.
The Beard had 14 points on 2-for-11 shooting, he was 8-for-8 from the foul line, and he was 0-for-6 on 2-pointers. It was a weird night for Harden and it is a performance that he can’t have against a legitimate contender like the Suns.
“A couple calls that didn’t get called,” said Harden afterward. “A couple of just miss shots. 11 shots isn’t enough. I’ve got to take more shots and be more aggressive.”
Harden is right when he says 11 shots isn’t enough for him. This continues a bit of an up and down performance from him since he came to Philadelphia in terms of his aggressiveness. There are nights where he looks like the Harden of old, but then there are nights like on Sunday when he shies away from trying to be the guy.
The Sixers are obviously Joel Embiid’s team, but at some point, Harden needs to realize that he can take games over in the blink of an eye just as well as anybody in the league.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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