CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Boston Celtics on the road in Game 1 thanks to the heroics of James Harden. The Beard was scintillating: He had 45 points on 17-for-30 in one helluva performance.
It has been a struggle since. He has combined to shoot 5-for-28 in both losses, and Philadelphia is down 2-1 to the Celtics. In Friday’s Game 3 loss, Harden was passing up a few really good looks. He looked passive.
After a film session on Saturday, coach Doc Rivers offered his thoughts on Harden’s struggles.
“I just thought we didn’t play with enough thrust,” said Rivers. “We didn’t get in the paint enough. They’re helping on everybody’s drive,s so they’re bringing people and James has to make the right decision. I think overall, he is.”
Harden did shoot 2-for-5 in the fourth, including a tough layup, but in order for the Sixers to rally in this series and advance to their first Eastern Conference final since 2001, they need him to be better.
“There was one where I’m sure people thought he could’ve shot the ball, but he was going to his right which to me, him being a passer is not a bad thing for us,” said Rivers. “We showed him two big shots down the stretch, those are good shots. I asked him ‘You want those shots?’ he said ‘Yeah’ and I said ‘We’ll live with those, too. We just need you to be aggressive and take them.’ We’ll be fine.”
Being aggressive is going to have to be a big factor for Harden moving forward. It almost looked like the second half of Game 6 against the Miami Heat in 2022 when he only took two shots with the season on the line. That can’t happen going forward. The Beard has to bring his best game for the Sixers in Game 4 against the Celtics.
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