DETROIT — The Philadelphia 76ers invaded Little Caesars Arena on Sunday afternoon looking to pick up a win over the Detroit Pistons despite being short-handed. They were missing one of the best players in the game, Joel Embiid, who was out due to left foot soreness, and PJ Tucker, who was sidelined by a non-COVID-19 illness.
Despite those absences, the Sixers picked up an easy 123-111 win as James Harden and Montrezl Harrell went to work.
The two of them had success playing off each other. Harden had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists while Harrell had 20 points and six rebounds.
“He listens and he does what he does very well,” said Harden. “That’s roll to the basket, finish around the rim. So they were in drop coverage and Paul Reed did a really good job when he came in of doing the same thing Trez was doing. It opens up driving lanes. It opens up opportunities for shooters.”
Harrell has great hands in the pick-and-roll game so when he can set a screen and roll to the basket, that sets up success on the offensive end. Harden is one of the better passers and scorers in the game, so when he draws attention from the defense, that opens up Harrell for easy buckets.
“It’s all him,” Harrell said of Harden. “He’s a helluva scorer, he comes off, he draws a lot of attention, a lot of eyes on him, but my ultimate job is to go out there and get him as open as possible as I can. I try to get up there, set a great screen, get his defender off of him, and nine times out of 10, I benefit off of that by getting him open.”
At the end of the day, Harden and Harrell led the Sixers to an easy win they needed following the loss on Friday.
“He’s gonna draw a lot of attention, he’s gonna make a defense do multiple different reads, and have to make multiple different coverages, really,” Harrell added. “He makes it easy for me.”
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