PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers returned home on Monday for one game before going back out on the road looking to keep their winning streak going. They played host to the Chicago Bulls who have a lot of long, active defenders, and they bothered the Sixers all night.
James Harden, especially, as he shot 2-for-14 on the night and he missed all six of his 3-pointers. He finished with five points, 12 assists, and seven rebounds on the night, but it was obvious that he just wasn’t right at all in the 109-105 double-overtime loss.
This is also the third time Harden has struggled against the Bulls. In the previous two matchups with Chicago, Harden shot 20% from the floor and 21.4% from deep. Maybe the Bulls are doing something specifically to bother him.
“No,” said coach Doc Rivers when asked if the Bulls bother Harden. “He just didn’t play well. I don’t think it’s them. At least not tonight. I thought he was hurting a little bit. I thought our pace was so slow. A lot of late-clock possessions and when we’ve done that this year, typically, we have not won the game, or if we’ve won the game, it’s been like tonight when it comes down to them, but that’s not how we want to play.”
Harden has been dealing with a foot issue. When asked what he meant about the future Hall of Famer “hurting” a bit, Rivers stated that he thinks the foot is bothering him.
“Yeah, his foot,” he said succinctly.
When asked about the offensive struggles, Rivers blamed the team for their issues.
“Us,” he scoffed. “Yeah, I thought our execution all night was awful, awful. First half, I didn’t think we trusted the pass. We’ve been passing the ball so well. I showed a video today of all passes. There were so many plays where guys driving the middle just flow passing, it was there all night and we were trying to get in the paint and make plays and they were just digging stuff out.”
Philadelphia shot 43.8% in the first half and 46.3% in the second half. The big issue was the turnovers as they committed 12 in the first half compared to just six after halftime. A better first half probably wins this game for the Sixers.
“We did a little bit better in the second half,” Rivers acknowledged. “I thought the ball moved a little bit better, but never found out rhythm the entire game. The ball stuck all night late in the clock the entire night. So that was disappointing and then our execution down the stretch was awful.”
The Sixers will get another crack at the Bulls on Wednesday in Chicago.
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