TORONTO — As the Philadelphia 76ers head home after two games on the road to begin the season, eyes shift back to the James Harden situation.
The Sixers picked up a 114-107 win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday and will take on the Portland Trail Blazers in the home opener on Sunday. After the Sixers told Harden to stay home and continue to ramp up his activity after he was away from the team for 10 days, one has to wonder if the future Hall of Famer will be with the team against the Blazers.
Joel Embiid, who formed the best pick-and-roll duo with Harden in the 2022-23 season, is not sure if The Beard will be back with the team on Sunday. He’s staying out of it.
“I’m not sure,” Embiid said of Harden. “I have no idea. I think everybody in this locker room has been focused on — we’re playing. We got games every single day. That’s up to guys upstairs and management to figure out what’s gonna happen, but we got a pretty good team.”
The Sixers have taken the right approach when concerning Harden. Philadelphia is focused on winning basketball games and trying to stick together as a team. They have played very well through the first two games of the season, and coach Nick Nurse has been a terrific influence on his team in the early going.
Throw in the stellar play of Tyrese Maxey to begin the season and the Sixers are going to be in a good spot regardless of whether Harden returns on Sunday or not.
“It’s all about us trying to get better every single day,” Embiid added. “I like where we’re at and I think we can still get way better. I’m not even close to where I wanna be so I’ll be even better and I think he (pointing at Maxey) can even be better, but it’s going great so far.”
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