James Harden’s debut has Philadephia 76er fans on cloud nine right now. The 76ers are 2-0 since trading for the former MVP and have beaten their opponents by a combined 57 points.

The Beard is finally back in form. He seems to be in much better shape post-all-star break. There was something about his time in Brooklyn… he didn’t seem to be playing his game, but more so trying to adapt to playing alongside KD and Kyrie.

There were reports that Harden and Kevin Durant/Head Coach Steve Nash didn’t agree on offensive schemes. Harden wanted a more iso-style of play while the Nets were looking to run a more free-flowing offense. Rumors also have it that KD questioned Harden’s commitment to conditioning/staying in shape.

Harden has an on and off switch and towards the end of his time in both Houston and Brooklyn, he turned that switch off. On the twilight of an 11 game losing streak, he worked his way out of Brooklyn to land himself in a better situation.

Now that he’s in Philly he’s looking more energetic, happy, and excited about hooping. After being traded at the deadline, he admitted to the media that Philadelphia was actually his first choice last season.

So far, James has had two masterful games in a Philly uniform.

27 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds in his debut win versus Minnesota. 133-102.

And then yesterday he dropped a triple-double – scoring 29 points, racking up 16 assists (1 under a career-high), 10 boards, and 5 swipes in a 125-109 win in the Garden.

He’s the first 76er to ever put up these numbers.

Some of the highlight plays between James and Joel had MSG erupting…

29 points, 10 boards, 16 dimes, 5 steals for @JHarden13.

37 points, 9 boards, 4 blocks for @JoelEmbiid.

in only their 2nd game together 🤯 pic.twitter.com/juOEm61ecy

— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2022

These two are absolutely loving playing together and it shows. They make each other’s jobs easier.

Joel admitted after game one together that it’s, “probably the most wide-open I’ve been.”

He went on to say this,

“Unstoppable. What are you going to do? I’ve got someone who attracts a lot of attention. You’ve gotta make a decision- stay on me or stay on him? If you want to guard both of us, you’ve got Matisse diving to the rim & wide open shooters.”

This duo actually has that potential, to be unstoppable. Their two skillsets intertwine perfectly to where they are always going to create good looks on the court.

As James likes to say… Scary Hours have begun.

Tyrese Maxey’s Ascendance

Via NBC Sports

It’s starting to make a lot of sense why Daryl Morrey was so adamant about keeping Tyrese Maxey when it came to any Ben Simmons deals. The kid can play. And now to have the opportunity to play alongside someone like James Harden his game is going to go to a new level.

In his second season, he’s averaging 17.2 PPG, 4.5 APG, and 3.2 RPG and playing nearly 36 minutes per game. The 76ers needed someone to step up offensively this season without Ben in the picture and Tyrese and been the guy.

After two games, Tyrese seems to be the third offensive option with this team. He has the ability to create his own shot, take off in transition, and knock down the three-ball. Maxey is a smart player and hardly ever commits turnovers.

Tyrese dropped 28 points in the win versus Minnesota and then 21 against the Knicks.

Maxey has a different role with James Harden controlling the offense, but it seems to be working just fine for him. He’s getting easier, more open looks while playing more off the ball.

Tyrese Maxey has now mastered the Harden step-back.

The league is in troublepic.twitter.com/vRoKPjhnd9

— Barstool Philly (@BarstoolPhilly) February 27, 2022

Before long everyone on the 76ers is going to be doing the James Harden stepback…

Tobias Harris has to find a role

Via NBC Sports

Tobias Harris has been one 76er who has not looked very good since the Harden deal.

In the two games they’ve played together Tobias scored 6 points on 2/9 shooting and 12 points on 3/9 shooting.

This is far below average from a guy who goes for over 18 points a game. Tobias seems to be the odd man out with Harden in town. He’s having trouble getting to the spots he wants and getting the looks he’s used to.

Harden had this to say after game one together,

“There were opportunities where Tobias had four or five catch-and-shoot opportunities that he passed up and try to dribble past somebody. That’s the thing that I’m gonna stay in his ear about is he got those opportunities. I don’t care if you miss 20 of them, those are shots we need you to take because more times than not, you’re gonna make those shots”

Harden kept it real with the media with this response. He is trying to make it clear to his teammate to focus on taking the easier looks he’s going to be getting now rather than making it hard on himself.

The issue here is that Tobias mainly likes to work from the mid-post and score through midrange jump shots or powering it inside. Now with Harden controlling the ball and Joel working from the post, he just can’t find where he should be on the court. Half of the time out there Sunday he looked completely lost.

Tobias is going to need to alter his playstyle and become more of a willing off-the-ball player now. He’s going to have to accept being a catch-and-shoot 3 point guy and understand that there won’t be as many plays called for him. The Philly offense takes a big turn with Harden in the lineup so adjustments will need to be made if this team wants to succeed.

It’s nothing to stress about if you’re a 76er fan, it will probably just take some time. Tobias is a solid scorer and vet, he just needs to adjust his game to make things easier on himself and the team.

 

The 76ers have officially become the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference (and win it all).

There are just too many question marks with the other top teams.

Phoenix is missing CP3 for potentially the first round of the playoffs, Golden State has been without Draymond for a while now, we don’t know what Brooklyn will look like with Ben in the lineup (plus Kyrie can’t play in home games). The Bucks are their only real threat right now.

Things can change quickly though, so you never know. What I do know is that this year’s playoffs are going to be one for the history books. Still praying for that Philly/Nets playoff matchup...