PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers finally returned home on Wednesday to play host to the New York Knicks to finish off a home-and-home series with their division rival and it meant the big home debut of one, James Harden.
The Sixers acquired Harden back on Feb. 10 from the Brooklyn Nets in a big deal, but he was not able to play in any games before the All-Star break due to his hamstring injury. He then played in two road games following the break, but Wednesday was finally his first home game and he delivered.
Harden had 26 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists as he led the Sixers to a 123-108 win over the Knicks at home. The fan base gave him a lot of love before the game and The Beard was appreciative of that.
“It was great, man,” said Harden. “The excitement from the beginning of the game. I felt the energy, I felt the love, so I just wanted to come out there and show my love back. I just wanted to play well on both ends of the ball and ultimately get the win.”
Philadelphia did get off to a slow start as the Knicks raced out to a 16-point lead which kind of put a damper on the Harden debut, but he and the rest of the Sixers were able to pick it up and figure it out before going on to win the game.
“I think we started off a little slow especially in that first half for whatever reason,” Harden added. “In the second half, we picked it up. We were more aggressive on both ends of the ball and we played our brand of basketball.”
Joel Embiid, who had 27 points and 12 rebounds of his own has been around Philadelphia for a long time. He knows what this fan base can do as they welcomed Harden to the city.
“It was great,” Embiid said. “It felt like a playoff atmosphere. I’ve given a lot of credit to Philly fans over the years and they always come through win or lose. They’ve shown a lot of support whether it’s cheering for us or booing us and that’s what you want. You want fans to be involved, you want fans to know everything about their basketball team, and that’s what we have in Philly.”
Harden has played in a lot of big games in his career and Wednesday might not be categorized as a “big game”, but it certainly felt like an important one.
“He’s been in a lot of big games in his life,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I don’t know if he would even consider this a big game. Probably an exciting game since it’s his first time in Philadelphia, but I have no idea.”
Harden later added what it felt like to play in front of the Philadelphia fans and the love that they gave him.
“It’s just exciting, man,” he added. “The love, the fans, just it felt like home. Just the love, the support, man, from looking around and just ‘We love you James!’ that right there makes me go out there and play harder. I just want to do whatever it takes to get the win.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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