PHILADELPHIA — The narrative is out there.
James Harden is a dominant force in the regular season. Yet, he struggles in clutch moments in the postseason.
The 76ers hope this postseason is different. That’s why they acquired him in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 10. In their eyes, Harden was the best option to serve as the secondary scorer to Joel Embiid and close out games.
Yet, they know the narrative exists. So does Harden.
The guard will get an opportunity to begin chipping away at it against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.
However, that opportunity does come against the same Raptors squad that Harden has struggled to make shots and hold onto the ball against in two games as a Sixer. He averaged 15.5 points on 33.3% shooting — 12.5% on 3-pointers — to go with 4.5 turnovers.
It would be logical for Harden to feel some sort of pressure given the narrative and this season’s shooting woes against Toronto.
But …
“I feel good,” he said following Thursday’s practice. “I’m ready to hoop. It’s nothing to it.”
Harden has a right to be confident.
The 13-year veteran will go down as one of the most lethal scorers in NBA history. By now, folks in Philly are aware of his three scoring titles and garnering the 2018 league MVP during his time with the Houston Rockets. He’s a 10-time All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA selection, and a member of the 75th anniversary team.
In addition to having a career average of 24.9 points, Harden’s 2,593 career 3-pointers rank third all-time in NBA history behind Steph Curry (3,117) and Ray Allen (2,973).
Yet, the prevailing thought on Harden exists because of his lackluster postseason performances, especially in elimination games.
In fairness, it’s not like he’s been eliminated by Little Sisters of the Poor or the Church League All-Stars. His teams have been eliminated seven times by the eventual NBA champion. Two other times, his squads lost to Golden State Warriors teams that reached the NBA Finals.
Harden, however, hasn’t exactly been clutch when it mattered most.
A prime example came as a Rocket in Game 5 of the 2017 Western Conference semifinals. With the series tied 2-2, he had a potential game-tying 3-pointer blocked by the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili as time expired in overtime. The Rockets eventually lost the series in six games.
Harden finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists to post a triple-double in the 110-107 Game 6 loss. He made 4 of 15 3-pointers and committed nine turnovers.
Overall, Harden averaged 24 points on 42.5% shooting — including 32.5% on 3-pointers — to go with 5.7 assists and 4.5 turnovers while going 9-12 in elimination games.
In his last eight, he averaged 24.3 points on 39.7% shooting — 23.6% from deep — to go with 6.5 assists and 6.2 turnovers.
But a lot of the Sixers’ success against the Raptors — and possibly beyond — depends on Harden.
After starting strong in his first four games, Harden struggled to shoot the ball, became more turnover prone, and appeared a step slow. Those things have been noticeable in his two contests against Toronto.
In addition to missing seven of eight 3-point attempts, Harden struggled to get past the Raptors’ post players and faltered in a matchup that should’ve been advantageous for him.
Harden said having time to practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday has been beneficial. The time on the court has enabled him to get up to speed with in-game situations. It also enabled to him to find out what his teammates — and the Raptors — like to do in certain circumstances and act those actions out in practice. And he’s working on shooting 3s better in catch-and-shoot scenarios. For most of his career, his 3-pointers have come off the dribble on isolation plays.
“You got to put the work in,” Harden said Thursday. “Yesterday, I stayed and shot a million shots. I haven’t had to do it [catch and shoot] in a long time. But it’s something I can do, and will have plenty opportunities of doing it.”
Harden has also been doing sprints, hamstring exercises and weight training after practice.
“So this has been a really good week for me to prepare myself for this first round,” Harden said.
Embiid is confident that Harden will come through for the Sixers this playoffs series.
“He’s been doing a great job of being a playmaker,” Embiid said. “But we need him to be aggressive and really scoring the ball, especially against Toronto. With the way they are guarding it, we are going to need everybody.”
They’re going to need Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris to be aggressive and make plays as well with all the attention Embiid and Harden will garner this series.
“But he just has to be himself,” Embiid said, “not worry about people talking about pressure [and] whatever happened in the past.
“You look back at what he’s accomplished and what he’s done, he had to play against a freaking dynasty [in the Warriors]. It would have been hard for anybody to beat those Golden State teams. So bad timing. But I’m sure he’s going to be fine.”
