The Philadelphia 76ers are facing their first real hiccup during the James Harden era. They have lost three games in a row following a loss to the previously 20-56 Detroit Pistons on Thursday where Harden shot only 4-for-15 and he was 1-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
Over his last 11 games, Harden is averaging 21.8 points, but he is shooting only 36.6% from the floor and 30.4% from deep. That isn’t exactly the type of production the Sixers were expecting and hoping for from Harden when they made the trade.
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, who was a teammate of Harden’s when the Oklahoma City Thunder reached the NBA finals in 2012, called out Harden for being a liability to the Sixers rather than being an asset:
He’s been more of a liability than what they thought he was gonna be. He’s supposed to be there to take pressure off of Joel Embiid and when you look at James Harden and you look at all the guys that he has had, all the superstars that he has played with, he has had more features than DJ Khaled when he had Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Migos, Drake, and everyone across the board. When you look at who James Harden has played with, it didn’t work out with Dwight Howard, it didn’t work out with Chris Paul, it didn’t work out with Russell Westbrook. You went to the Brooklyn Nets, it didn’t work out with KD (Kevin Durant) and Kyrie (Irving), now you’re with Embiid. At some point, you have to be able to hold up your end of the bargain and not just depend on the other that you’re pairing up with. Don’t put pressure on Embiid, be an asset to him. Not a liability. Right now, that’s what James Harden is since he has arrived with the Philadelphia 76ers.
At this point, the Sixers have only six games left to get it together before the playoffs begin. Their next opportunity to work on things will be on Saturday afternoon when they play host to the Charlotte Hornets.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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