CAMDEN, N.J. — As the Philadelphia 76ers convened for practice on Wednesday afternoon before making the trip to Brooklyn for Game 3 in their first-round series with the Nets, the focus was on taking care of business.
However, one issue stands out through the first two games of this series: the struggles of James Harden.
Harden is shooting 42.9% from deep through two games so there’s a big positive, but he’s struggling at the rim and he hasn’t attempted a single free throw. He is shooting 32.4% overall, and, per Cleaning the Glass, he’s shooting only 14% at the rim.
Coach Doc Rivers expressed confidence in Harden and he is blaming poor spacing on Philadelphia’s part for his struggles to begin this series.
“Just continue to create space,” Rivers said at practice. “We showed it on film, our spacing was terrible the entire first half. So even if James did get in the paint, two of our guys were standing. In basketball, you get to the paint, it’s OK if two defensive players are there, but two of your guys shouldn’t be there as well because that makes it easier for them to help.”
It isn’t like Harden isn’t getting any opportunities, though. He is at the basket and there have been clean looks for him. It’s just that when he does have the opportunity to score, he has to finish.
“He’s getting there,” added Tyrese Maxey. “He’s just gotta finish. It’s not like he can’t get there. He’s getting to the rim, and I’m not worried about James making layups, but you’re right. When he gets to the rim, the defense has to collapse, and they know that he’s a threat score in there.”
Harden is still averaging 10 assists through the first two games. When he gets in the paint, the Nets have been collapsing, and he has been making the right decisions.
“So because he’s a threat to score and because he’s James Harden, he’s going to attract so much attention when he drives that him being a great playmaker who can kick out to shooters or dump off to Joel (Embiid),” Maxey continued. “That gets us open 3s as well.”
As this series shifts to Brooklyn, Rivers has made it clear he wants better spacing from his team.
“I thought our spacing was really poor in transition especially, and that’s where it has to be at its best,” said the coach. “We have to run wide. We have too many guards, too many threes, fours running down on the floor where they should be running out wide. We didn’t do that for whatever reason.”
Game 3 from the Barclays Center is set for Thursday.
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