Sixers need more James Harden | Defector

The biggest story in the NBA over the past few days has been the fate of Ben Simmons, whose season officially ended without him ever stepping on the court as the Nets were unceremoniously dumped at the trash by the Celtics. That’s probably good news for the guy he was traded for, who was allowed to underperform somewhat quietly for a Philadelphia 76ers team on the verge of a historic meltdown against the Toronto Raptors. James Harden hasn’t given his new team enough, and while they’re still the favorites to go out of their first-round streak, they’re suddenly within the margin of error for an all-time pant. With Joel Embiid injured, the Sixers need Harden to be better.

The Sixers had a chance to shut down the Raptors on Monday night, securing the gentleman’s sweep after giving up the actual sweep in Game 4. Embiid decided to play through a torn ligament in his shooting thumb, although the Raptors also had to face Game 5 without their best player, as Fred VanVleet left Game 4 (and likely the rest of the series) with a strained hip flexor. The benefit of having multiple superstar players is two-fold: you can break down defenses when they play together by having them face multiple attackers who demand double squads, and you buy yourself the best possible insurance policy in the event of a loss. adversity, like, say, your MVP. candidate ripping his thumb off.

Harden is there to augment Embiid’s abilities, but also to be the tip of the spear when Embiid is limited. In this regard, it falls far short of expectations. Harden shot 5 for 17 in Game 4, then 4 for 11 in Game 5. Missing seven shots is much less of a concern than taking just 11, as it forces the other Sixers guys to do more (Matisse Thybulle is, functionally, the best defender on the field for both teams right now) and also uncomfortably echoes Harden’s well-established history of turning into a pumpkin in the highest leverage situations.

I may just be a viewer diagnosing a team’s ills from afar without any first-hand experience, but you know who isn’t? Joel Embid. Here’s what he had to say after the Game 5 loss, in which the Sixers managed 88 points.

I said all season since he arrived here, he has to be aggressive and he has to be himself. It’s not really my job. It’s probably up to Coach to talk to him and tell him to take more shots, especially if they’re going to keep me like they did. But that’s really not my job. But we all have to be better offensively. We missed a bunch of wide open shots. Sometimes I just felt like we were just invited, when I got doubled we weren’t aggressive in attacking the ball. We just kept moving the ball around the perimeter, and that gave them time to recover, and that’s why we’re not able to get anything out of it.

ESPN

Despite his thumb injury, the Raptors double-cross Embiid every time he gets the rock, essentially playing a gambit and betting they can get through faster than Harden can punish them in a 4-on-3. matches, it was a smart bet. Harden has Move the ball well enough, although he did stray from the basket to a rather alarming degree. He doesn’t seem to have any explosiveness, which might have something to do with the lingering hamstring injury that has been bothering him all season. Whatever the cause, a big and important part of Harden’s game is gone. He keeps making plays for others and reaching the line, but he doesn’t score on the rim at all. Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Herring ran the numbers, and they’re grim. Harden is shooting 40 percent on drives in five games against the Raptors, up from 64 and 62.5 percent in the past two playoffs. He falls short at the rim against a Raptors team that doesn’t play any rim protectors either. These defenders are far more adept at sprinting and stabilizing as a unit after a brace than encountering a determined attacker on the edge, so while Harden can always find passing lanes for his teammates, doing so at the expense of to go to the cup is to play Toronto.

Even without VanVleet, Toronto has slowly imposed its will on this series. Both teams want to play very differently, although the high wing Raptors’ post-positional framework has been able to force tons of turnovers, find transition opportunities and break away from the more traditional set-up of Philadelphia. They will enter Game 6 with serious momentum, knowing that their opponents, whose coach and second star are notorious for crumbling in high-pressure situations, are the ones with something to prove. Philly only needs one big game from their stars, although as we’ve seen through five games, nothing will be easy for them.