After Joel Embiid received his 2023 NBA MVP award on Friday, the 76ers couldn’t cap the night off successfully as the Celtics defeated Philadelphia 114–102. While Embiid produced 30 points and 13 rebounds, James Harden struggled again with 16 points on 3-for-14 shooting from the field.
It was the second straight rough game for Harden, as he shot just 2-for-14 for 12 points in Game 2. The two poor outings coincided with Philadelphia’s first two losses of the playoffs. They came after Harden carried the team to a Game 1 victory with 45 points on Monday as Embiid sat out.
One specific play that seemed to show Harden’s loss of confidence on Friday came when he passed out of a potential layup late in the game.
James Harden was awesome in game one
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) May 6, 2023
It is insane to me that in under a week we have gone from that guy to this. This Sixers team just isn’t series if he isn’t a threat to score and tonight he was not
He’s gotta get out of his own head
pic.twitter.com/yJFnEv7CsX
After Game 3, Embiid shared how he plans to advise Harden as he deals with this offensive slump.
“I mean, you just talk to him and you keep telling him to keep shooting,” Embiid said, via ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Be aggressive. Can’t get too high, can’t get too low. Some nights you’re going to make lots of other shots, a lot of tough ones, and some nights you’re not going to make them. So it’s about finding other ways to impact the game.”
Harden may not be the player he used to be when he starred for the Rockets, but he still needs to be a proper co-star to Embiid for the Sixers to make a deep playoff run. With Embiid still dealing with a knee injury, Harden has even more pressure to turn things around quickly.
