Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
While star center Joel Embiid sat out due to an orbital fracture and concussion, the Philadelphia 76ers needed James Harden to play like the former NBA MVP he is in Monday’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Miami Heat.
Unfortunately for Philadelphia, Harden was nowhere near his best as he put in a lackluster performance in a 106-92 loss at FTX Arena. Harden scored 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting with nine rebounds, five assists and five turnovers. The Sixers were already expected to face an uphill battle against the top-seeded Heat, but Philly doesn’t stand a chance in the series if Harden keeps playing like this.
Naturally, fans on social media called out Harden for his quiet night.
Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 sports reasons @EthanJSkolnick
James Harden has as many turnovers as field goals: 5
Tyler Herro has 9 field goals and no turnovers. @5ReasonsSports
Eliot Shorr-Parks @EliotShorrParks
It really looks like Harden hasn’t had a single rebound to go his way in 3s since he got to the #Sixers
Eliot Shorr-Parks @EliotShorrParks
The most disappointing part of tonight for the Sixers has to be James Harden. The Heat look very beatable. They will have a chance when Embiid is back. But once again, Harden didn’t look any better in the place the team really needed him to be. #Sixers
While Harden struggled, his Sixers teammates weren’t much better. Tobias Harris scored 27 points and Tyrese Maxey added 19, but they were the only bright spots. Philadelphia shot just 6-for-34 (17.6 percent) from 3-point range against a stout Miami defense.
But despite impressively securing the Sixers, the Heat shot just 43.5 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from beyond the arc. Some fans were disappointed that Philly blew an opportunity to steal an away win thanks to their own lackluster shooting.
Andrew Unterberger @AUgetoffmygold
Boy, this sucks. The Sixers did a lot of things right in the first half and walked away from everything in the second. Shooting 16% from three certainly won’t help, but it seems like a lot of the mistakes made tonight were avoidable and/or Doc-induced. Game 2 is still very winnable.
john clark @JClarkNBCS
Sixers with 14 turnovers that have turned into 19 points for Miami
Heat with 15 offensive rebounds
So even though the Sixers are shooting 46%, better than the heat, the heat has 15 extra shots pic.twitter.com/Xo6BSqUf6F
The Sixers are optimistic that Embiid could return as early as Game 3 or 4 when the series returns to Philadelphia, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The team has to hang on to that hope because they can’t depend on Harden to lead the way to victory. Regardless of his history of postseason struggles, Harden hasn’t shown the dominance we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from him this entire season, and he can no longer be counted on as a consistent leading option.
On the other hand, Jimmy Butler (15 points and nine rebounds), Tyler Herro (25 points and seven assists) and Bam Adebayo (24 points and 12 rebounds) led the way for the Heat.