BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers acquired James Harden at the 2022 deadline to bolster their championship chase with the future Hall of Famer and Joel Embiid leading the way. The two are terrific players individually, and they have been phenomenal as a duo.
The Sixers had an offensive rating of 123.2 per PBP Stats with Harden and Embiid on the floor. Together, they had a terrific season. The big fella led the league in scoring on his way to winning MVP, and Harden led the league in assists.
However, the result was the same: another second round exit. This time it was a 112-88 Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics on the road. Harden finished with nine points on 3-for-11 shooting, while Embiid had 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting.
“We’re only one year in,” Harden said of his partnership with Embiid. “We played against a team that’s been together for quite a few years now. They were in the finals last year so they know what it takes to get back there and this is only Year 1 for us, full year so it was great.”
Harden has an option to be a free agent this summer. He said he hasn’t thought about the future and he will have to make a decision, but Embiid thinks the two of them have much more to accomplish.
“We got an unfinished job. We haven’t won anything and I think we got the chance to win. Obviously, going to seven games and having the chance to close it out at home which we didn’t do, I still believe that we got the chance to win. We got what it takes to win.”
As far as Embiid’s possible role in bringing Harden back to Philadelphia, the big fella is obviously not going to handle the negotiations.
“I don’t know what’s going on and I know he has a player option, so they can extend him,” Embiid added. “That’s on those guys (the front office) to figure it out. I’m gonna stay out of it, but I still believe that me and him, we got the chance to win, but it’s gonna take more than us. We gotta look at ourselves. I gotta be better and I will be better. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Embiid has always said he can’t win alone. He needs his teammates to step up and help. Obviously, Embiid had a rough Game 7, as did Harden, but the MVP knows he will have to be better and he needs help from his teammates in order to take the next step.
Also, here’s the full quote from Joel Embiid on James Harden. I asked him what the next step is for the 2 of them and about Harden’s future. #Sixers pic.twitter.com/BzWPWPGt53
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) May 15, 2023
“All of us, we gotta come back and find ways to just keep improving and help the team,” Embiid finished. “You can’t win alone. I can’t win alone. Me and James, we just can’t win alone. That’s why basketball is played 5-on-5 so we just need everybody to just try and keep finding ways to get better and we’ll be fine.”
Embiid, Harden and the Sixers are headed for what will be one interesting offseason for this franchise.
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