After more than a month of respite, James Harden returned to the field in early December, but his performance was not satisfactory at the beginning: he made only 4 of 19 shots, scored just 21 points, 7 assists, 7 turnovers , the Sixers still lost to the rebuilding Houston Rockets 132-123 in the double playoffs.
For Harden, returning from injury, it is inevitable that his skills are still a little rusty. Other Sixers outfielders such as Tyrese Maxey and Georges Niang are not yet back in this game. What a fuss.
However, the so-called little acquaintance, from the defeat of the above games, we can still find some more worrying trends about Harden. Will he be able to work together with Maxey and Joel Embiid in the long run, and if not? What will be the support plan for the Sixers?
Harden started this season with impressive results, averaging 26.8 points, 9.8 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 3 outside shots per game in his first 4 games, shooting 48.6% from the field, but things soon got worse. he averaged just 18.2 points, 10.2 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 three-point shots per game. His overall shooting percentage was 39.1%, and the outside line was only 28, 6%.
Harden is relying on the midrange to an unprecedented level this season, a good thing for a three-point threat like him; The game is still a bit too self-centered.
Harden ranks third in the league in touches per game (95.9), trailing only Tyrese Haliburton (96.1) and Nikola Jokic (96.5); Each touch has 5 dribbles, or even 6 seconds of cooldown.
Harden leads the team in assists per game (9.7), which may account for his high utilization rate, but he’s also the team’s best passer, as Sixers coach Doc Rivers put it: “To be honest, (when Harden is absent) our team is passing and ball-handling ability is limited.” Rivers once told the media, “We may be the only team in the NBA that doesn’t have a pure point guard. The closest – in terms of vision and passing.”
However, Harden occasionally returns to Houston’s “no-limits” routine, often with disastrous results, as in the Rockets’ last regular season possessions of the aforementioned game:
When Harden is on the court, the Sixers can average 114.8 points per 100 offensive possessions (league rank PR 69). However, their offensive conversion opportunities are relatively slim: For the bearded Sixers, a whopping 83.1 percent of their offensive shifts are system plays at halfback, which is the highest in the league’s PR 6 tier.
Harden’s slower playing style may be more effective in the playoffs, but the 76ers still need him to play a little more off the ball: This season, he’s caught just 8 percent of his shots after catching the ball; The pull-up percentage goes up to 60.5%! In terms of hit rate, the former has an accuracy of 37.8% of hits, while the latter has a relatively inefficient 33.9%.
Harden certainly can’t be as great an off-the-ball shooter as Stephen Curry, but if he tries to play off the ball, defenders will have no qualms about sneaking in when he doesn’t have the ball, thus blocking Embiid’s space around. the edge, just like the centers Harden has played with in the past.
But for the Sixers, if they decide to get rid of Harden, it’s actually not easy. Because after the Sixers win Harden’s bird rights, Harden will be able to turn down his 35.6 million player option deal and become a free agent in 2023. It only counts with his consent.
Even if the 76ers want to admit the loss, Harden also agrees to take the talent elsewhere. At the moment, it seems that it is difficult for teams in the league to have compensation to match. A mid-season contract for a 33-year-old in decline offers many resources .
