The First Loss of the James Harden Era

The Philadelphia 76ers lost their first game with their new, full lineup. It was a tragic loss for a multitude of reasons. The first is the most obvious: the opponent. Losing to the Brooklyn Nets, who they did the blockbuster trade with, and with public enemy No. 1 Ben Simmons in attendance on the bench, was probably the worst feeling they could’ve had in the regular season. Because of said drama, the house was packed, and the fans were silenced pretty quickly. The second reason was the game itself, which took a dark turn very quickly and was over by the third quarter. There’s no reason to overreact to any one game, as anything can happen, but there are reasons to be concerned with the first loss of the James Harden era.

No Reason to Freak Out

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First off, it’s a good idea to reiterate that one game doesn’t mean anything. It’s rough that the Sixers lost horribly and in such blowout fashion, but it’s smart to get some perspective. The Nets were unbelievably hot, pretty much every one of them. They shot 56% from the floor overall, and 45% from three. It was even better in the middle of the third quarter before the backups got sent in. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are two of the most gifted scorers in the game today, and sometimes they and are just unstoppable. It doesn’t matter who is on them, they will just splash. They both started the game 5/6 from the floor, and Irving’s only miss was a Matisse Thybulle block. They would end the half with KD 7/9 and KI 6/10. Not to mention that Seth Curry was 10/14 overall as well. A lot of Durant’s and Irving’s shots were fairly contested jump shots, they just couldn’t miss. That happens from game-to-game, especially with players this talented. 

On the flip side, James Harden and Joel Embiid couldn’t buy a bucket. They were a combined 8/34 on the game. A good portion of that was really good defense by the Nets, who were swarming and swiping at every ball whenever they could. Embiid and Harden did not get anywhere near as many easy buckets as they do against other teams, but they weren’t all like that. Harden in particular missed a number of wide open jump shots, and just couldn’t get anything to fall. So on one side, the Nets couldn’t miss, and the Sixers’ couldn’t get anything going. Over the course of a seven game series that will even out. So there’s no reason to panic. 

Let’s Overreact

That’s the most positive spin one could take on the blowout loss. Now for the flip side, the most negative, reactive take. The game had a playoff atmosphere, and the thing with James Harden has always been his playoff performance. When the lights are brightest, Harden often shrivels, and one could easily say he did it here again. 3/17 is horrible no matter how you slice it, and it is a line that Harden has had just too many times in important games. Doc Rivers as well, another person with perceived playoff problems, did not seem able to handle the pressure or get his players under control. 

Finally, the Nets did this in the Sixers’ house, and they did it without being at full strength, missing Ben Simmons. Adding his passing, transition offense, defense and rebounding to the Nets, while letting the Curry, Irving, Durant trio sounds daunting. Can the Sixers’ handle them at full strength? Based off of this game, no, and it certainly looked like the Nets came out the winner of the trade. Considering this is a possible first round matchup, the Sixers’ could be in real trouble. 

True Takeaways

Steven M. Falk/Philadelphia Inquirer

Harden and Embiid most likely just had a bad game, and the Nets had a very good one, especially defensively. It won’t happen like this all the time, and both teams will regress to the mean. That doesn’t mean there aren’t true causes of concern however. There are three main takeaways from this loss that have been somewhat consistent themes for the Sixers, and it’s a bit concerning that they haven’t been addressed yet.

Overall Defense

With James Harden in the lineup, the Sixers have often really struggled defensively, especially in the first half. They’ve given up 60+ in the first half three of their six games, and 70+ twice. Things tend to tighten up in the second half, but it’s hard to win games giving up that many points off the rip in every game. The interior defense can be especially leaky, and Thybulle can only do so much on the perimeter. To add to that, and this isn’t a Harden specific issue, but the Sixers’ have been quite bad at defensive rebounding. The Nets’ don’t have particularly amazing bigs, yet they got too many second chance buckets the few times they did miss. Tobias Harris and Georges Niang aren’t great rebounders for the four spot, and because Embiid is always contesting shots he isn’t always in position to get boards. These are concerns that the Sixers do need to fix, but they simply might not have the personnel to make sweeping improvements which is concerning. 

Too Many Turnovers

This has improved since Harden took over, but under Doc Rivers every once in a while the 76ers’ get very careless with the ball. That reared its ugly head in this one, with the Sixers constantly throwing the ball away. The Nets ended up with 13 steals and 15 blocks, and the Sixers had 18 turnovers. The turnovers often snowball when things turn south, and Rivers needs to be able to settle the team and stop them from rushing. This one has not been an issue recently, but it’s concerning to see it come back and compound. Hopefully it’s just a one off thing, but this has been a recurring theme in many a loss.

Taking Smart Shots

The tendency to panic and let things snowball also manifested itself in the Sixers’ shot selection. When things went south, the entire plan seemed to be Harden and Embiid iso’s only. The ability for both to do that effectively is a weapon, but there’s no reason for it to be the only plan, especially if they aren’t playing well. Harden had averaged 12.4 assists with the Sixers prior to this game. He had just five against the Nets. Tyrese Maxey, who has been a legit third star over the run, got just seven shots. He got relegated to “pass to Embiid and stand around” duty. There were so many hero ball plays, which often do work with Harden and Embiid, but they didn’t work this time and they just kept forcing it. Harden clearly didn’t have the range today, and it’s on the coach to recognize that and put the ball in someone else’s hands. Tobias Harris was playing alright, and Maxey didn’t even get a chance, yet on Harden’s worst shooting night he took his most attempts. Embiid gets into these modes where he stops trusting his teammates and passing out of double teams, and tries to do everything himself. A team should not look like they are so clearly panicking, but the Sixers did, and it’s not a good look on them or the coach. 

The First Loss is a Tough One

The honeymoon is officially over, and now it’s time to see how the Sixers respond. Honestly, it’s a good thing for them to get punched in the mouth so they can learn how to respond. They’ve been all smiles and laughs so far, so what happens when they get blown out by the team they wanted to crush the most? Their response will tell the world a lot about who they really are, and to be able to do this before the playoffs is a good thing. There are lessons to be learned from the loss, and at the same time there’s no need to overreact.