After sitting out four games with a sore Achilles during the Sixers’ west coast trip last week, James Harden looked slow and sluggish in the first half when he returned to action Wednesday against the Mavs. However, he woke up in the second half as the Sixers came back to win. Friday night against the Raptors, he looked even sharper, easing concerns over his ailing Achilles and giving Sixers fans hope that he’s primed for the playoff run.
James Harden worried fans when he told reporters that he thought he would have to deal with the sore Achilles for the rest of the year because it’s been bothering him for months. What made it even more worrisome was how slow and out-of-sorts Harden looked in the first half of the Mavs game. He came alive in the second half, however, and in the six quarters since, he’s looked like the playmaker the Sixers need him to be if they want to avoid another second-round exit.
As the Sixers came back in the 4th quarter against the Mavs on Wednesday night, Harden served as the catalyst. During a 10-0 Sixers run in the 4th, Harden assisted on every basket. His final stat line on the night wasn’t overly impressive, but the Harden we saw in the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, was impressive.
Harden built on his strong second half against the Mavs with an impressive outing last night against the Raptors. With Joel Embiid getting in early foul trouble – a somewhat concerning recent trend – Harden took over. With Embiid on the bench, Harden and the bench extended the Sixers lead to 15 points while he scored 17 points in 18 minutes of action before half-time, including this ridiculous three-pointer that extended the lead to 24 at the time.
Harden was the elite playmaker he’d been his entire career as well. You can count on one hand the number of players in the league who would have made this pass to DeAnthony Melton.
After the Sixers were ice cold from the field and the Raptors cut the lead to two points, Harden was a big reason why the Sixers never completely surrendered it and held on to win. Harden busted out one of the most impressive plays we’ve seen him make in a Sixers uniform when he crossed up OG Annuoby, one of the best isolation defenders in the league. It was vintage Harden, and if that is the James Harden the Sixers get in the playoffs, they will have a legit chance to get out of the second round.
On the night, Harden finished with 23 points and 11 assists while shooting 64.3% overall (9 of 14) and 50% from three (3 of 6). Harden shot less than 30% in his previous three contests, including a 14.3% performance against the Bulls the night he played 47 minutes on a sore Achilles before missing four straight games.
After the game, Harden said he felt good, but the Sixers will likely be overly cautious with him over the next week, with them being almost a lock for the three seed. Their magic number to clinch at least the three is down to one after their win over the Raptors and the Cavs’ loss to the Knicks on Friday. They’re 2.5 games behind Boston for the second seed, but even with a game against them left, passing them would require a lot of luck.
With that in mind, the Sixers will probably rest both Harden and Embiid again at some point over the final five games of the season. In Harden’s case, it might even make sense to rest him more than once between now and then if it increases the chances they see the same Harden they saw last night in the playoffs.
