3 Observations from Harden's Dream Debut in Blowout Win

3 observations after Harden's dream debut, blowout Sixers win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

James Harden as a Sixer is no longer a dream, though his debut Friday night felt like one.

The opening game of Harden's Sixers tenure could not have gone much better. In a 133-102 win over the Timberwolves at Target Center, Harden posted 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.

Joel Embiid had 34 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points on 12-for-16 shooting.

With the Sixers now 1-0 in the Harden era and 36-23 overall, here are observations on the team's tremendous performance: 

Harden's still Harden 

The 32-year-old Harden, who’d been out with left hamstring tightness since Feb. 2, didn’t force anything in the first couple of minutes.

His first Sixers basket was that of a player accustomed with getting exactly where he wants by shaking and then shielding off defenders. He’s been doing that at an All-Star level for a decade. 

Harden’s first assist wasn’t as flashy, though it illustrated another of his many offensive strengths. After a Minnesota miss, he quickly scanned the floor and fired the ball ahead to Tobias Harris, whose transition three-pointer gave the Sixers a 16-6 lead. Whether it’s as a passer or scorer, Harden recognizes when a defense is vulnerable and pounces on open-floor chances. As the Sixers work through the details of their half-court offense with Harden, that instinct should serve the team well. Maxey got a layup in stride off of a high-velocity, fast-break Harden dish in the second quarter. 

Harden's pick-and-roll passing was smooth, too. When the Timberwolves hedged, his timing and placement in hitting the roll man was excellent. He looked very good in tandem with Embiid, finding him on pops, short rolls, and rolls all the way to the rim. It's clear Embiid doesn't need to be a frequent lob catcher to be dangerous with Harden in pick-and-rolls. 

Ultimately, there were no indications that Harden's game has drastically diminished. He drained four of his signature step-back threes and lived up to the considerable hype.

Positive signs from new lineups 

Matisse Thybulle remained the Sixers’ starting small forward and began the night on Anthony Edwards. He made a costly early-game mistake, falling for a D’Angelo Russell pump fake and then fouling him as he knocked down a three-pointer. 

The Sixers started with Harris on Karl-Anthony Towns, which enabled Embiid to hang out around the paint more than usual as he kept tabs on non-shooter Jarred Vanderbilt. Smart scheme, and one example of how Harris’ defensive versatility can be valuable. While he’s best on similarly sized players, Harris has shown the past two seasons that he can often hold his own against both guards and big men. That also expands the situations in which it’s viable for the Sixers to switch on screens, which is important with Harden in the fold. 

Danny Green, Furkan Korkmaz and Georges Niang were the Sixers’ first three players off the bench. They moved the ball nicely, and back-to-back triples from Niang and Green put the Sixers up 30-19. 

The night was full of new lineups, but one clear takeaway is that Sixers head coach Doc Rivers wanted to see the Embiid-Maxey and Harden-Harris duos. 

Both pairings were promising. Maxey played with an attacking mindset and scored a dozen points before picking up his third foul late in the second quarter. Harris took open jumpers, and he also assisted Harden on a corner three after a strong baseline drive. 

The Sixers played a 10-man rotation, including Paul Millsap as backup center. New signing Willie Cauley-Stein did not appear until garbage time. An all-bench unit popped up late in the third quarter and Minnesota cut a deficit as high as 27 points down to 18. Such lineups shouldn't be necessary when games are close. 

As for Thybulle, he punctuated the first half with a buzzer-beating put-back dunk and recorded 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals. We assume he’ll start again when the Sixers visit the Knicks on Sunday afternoon. 

Embiid picks up where he left off

Embiid drew a foul on Towns 28 seconds into the game, a fitting start to his partnership with Harden.

A lot has to go wrong for a team with those two on it to produce inefficient offense. On Friday, Embiid missed 6 of his first 7 field goals but racked up 11 free throws in the first half. 

And it’s rare that Embiid’s jumper is off for an entire game. He kept firing and got hot in the third quarter. When the Timberwolves went to a zone defense, Embiid beat it with a soft shot from the foul line. 

Just like before the Sixers' trade for Harden, Embiid led fast breaks and wasn't hesitant about pushing the ball up the floor. That's still a useful tool and one way he can avoid half-court double teams come the playoffs, although Embiid can be more selective now that he's sharing the court with an All-Star ball handler. 

There will surely be ups and downs, but the notion of Harden and Embiid enhancing each other's talents and turning the Sixers into an immensely frustrating team to defend seemed rather realistic Friday.