James Harden lives as much as hype in Philadelphia debut as 76ers rout Minnesota Timberwolves

MINNEAPOLIS — The curtain raised for the primary time on the Joel Embiid–James Harden partnership with the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night time at Goal Middle towards the Minnesota Timberwolves. And, after two weeks of buildup and anticipation for what these two superstars would appear to be collectively, opening night time lived as much as the hype.

Behind 27 factors, eight rebounds and 12 assists from Harden, and 34 factors and 10 rebounds from Embiid, Philadelphia cruised to a 133-102 victory over Minnesota, in what Philadelphia hopes will likely be an indication of issues to come back.

“I preserve telling our guys, yesterday and right this moment, we needn’t overcomplicate this early on, at the very least,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers stated earlier than the sport. “We have to simply put guys in the appropriate area and simply play. We try this, and we’ll be OK.”

The Sixers (36-23) had been greater than OK Friday night time, casually imposing their will on the Timberwolves (32-29) all through the sport, permitting Philadelphia to have a cushty win and provides their stars a seat on the bench for the sport’s last minutes.

Harden, carrying his No. 1 jersey – the best-selling one within the NBA over the previous two weeks – and with a white sleeve to go on his left leg that matched his white jersey, took the court docket for the primary time as a 76er alongside Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid, greeting every of them earlier than the opening tip.

However slightly than imposing his will immediately, Harden as a substitute was content material to maneuver the ball via the opening minutes, conserving it swinging from side-to-side slightly than trying to rating himself.

When he lastly did, although, with 8:43 remaining within the first quarter, it was a well-known sight: Harden blasting his approach via contact and ending a layup on the rim, plus a foul. He picked up his first help a short while later when he hit Harris on a delayed break for a pull-up 3-pointer that capped a 15-Zero Timberwolves run and compelled their coach, Chris Finch, to name timeout.

As the sport wore on, the 2 superstars started to seek out their groove. Whereas there was nonetheless some clear timing points to type out, any time Harden and Embiid ran a pick-and-roll, it created scoring alternative. And, taking part in towards a Minnesota group that commits extra fouls per sport than another NBA group, it was no shock that Embiid and Harden – two of one of the best foul-drawers within the league – spent the sport dwelling on the charity stripe. Within the first half alone, they mixed for 19 free throws – 11 for Embiid, eight for Harden – as they shot greater than Minnesota’s total group (19-13) by themselves.

With Harden now on the court docket, this offered an opportunity for 76ers coach Doc Rivers to show whether or not he would comply with via with one thing he had vowed to do: staggering his 4 greatest offensive gamers – Embiid, Harden, Harris and Maxey, in addition to having at the very least one in every of Harden and Maxey on the ground always.

The logic was sound, as it might permit the 76ers to be as efficient as doable offensively for as a lot of the sport as doable. Nevertheless it is also one thing Rivers has usually shied away from doing up to now.

True to his phrase, nevertheless, Rivers began the sport doing simply that. His first substitutions of the sport, on the five-minute mark of the primary quarter, had been to take out Harden and Harris, and substitute them with Furkan Korkmaz and Georges Niang. And, all through the sport – exterior of 54 seconds throughout two stints late within the first quarter – he caught to having at the very least two of these guys on the market always, and by no means had a time when both Harden or Maxey was off the court docket apart from a defense-only possession to finish the primary.

That plan received thrown off-kilter within the second half, nevertheless, when Maxey went to the bench early within the third together with his fourth foul, resulting in Rivers having an all-bench lineup on the court docket for a few minutes late ultimately of the third quarter.

In the end, although, this sport was about Harden and Embiid, and for a 76ers group that spent months ready to see what would occur with Ben Simmons. Friday night time was, for at the very least one night time, an instance of why 76ers normal supervisor Daryl Morey waited for the appropriate participant to come back alongside to commerce Simmons away.

Harden pulled off three of his patented stepback 3-pointers – two of them that turned four-point performs, and one other because the shot clock wound down within the third, as Philadelphia casually put the sport out of attain. And after a season when Philadelphia has solely had one level guard on its roster – and that time guard, Maxey, continues to be studying the nuances of the place – Harden’s passing skill instantly started unlocking issues that had in any other case been dormant for the Sixers’ offensively.

One such instance was a ravishing behind-the-back dish to Embiid for a 3-pointer early within the fourth quarter. One other, despite the fact that it did not end in a basket, was a ravishing no-look slip go to Embiid in an open pocket within the protection on the free throw line.

However Harden’s presence additionally opened up different issues – like Maxey, who completed with 28 factors on 12-for-16 taking pictures, repeatedly slicing via the protection for floaters and layups on the rim, as his pace had Minnesota flummoxed all night time, and likewise knocked down a few catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.

The second, which got here off a Harden go with 4:25 remaining, put Philadelphia up by 27. And, as Finch known as timeout, Harden raised his fingers to the sky and set free a roar as he walked again to the bench for the ultimate time on the night time, emphatically capping off what may solely be described as a debut that was every little thing the 76ers hoped it might be.