Joel Embiid and his Philadelphia 76ers just dropped consecutive games to the Toronto Raptors after looking like they would sweep their opponents. The 3-0 series has quickly become a 3-2 series and the 76ers are looking out of sorts on the court.
One of the main culprits for the same has to be James Harden, someone Philadelphia went out of their way to acquire and have eyed for the better part of two seasons. However, this isn’t the Harden we saw on the Houston Rockets or even the Brooklyn Nets.
The former league MVP has averaged 18.4 points, 9.2 assists, and 4.8 rebounds so far this series, well below his standard. While Harden has a reputation of struggling in the playoffs, this is not due to ability but more due to him playing uncharacteristically passive, even though Embiid has a thump injury. Joel called him out on the same and urged Doc Rivers to speak to his co-star and give him a greater offensive burden.
Embiid when asked if Harden needs to take more shots: "I've been saying all season, since he got here, he just needs to be aggressive and needs to be himself. That’s not really my job. That’s probably on Coach to talk to him and tell him to take more shots."
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) April 26, 2022
If the 76ers want to be successful this postseason, they have to rely on Harden to carry Embiid through an injury that requires surgery to correct. Joel has said he won’t get surgery before the off-season, so it doesn’t look like there’ll be any respite from that discomfort. If anything, it stands to get worse as the post-season continues.
Rivers is the only coach in NBA history to blow two 3-1 leads and is now at risk of becoming the only coach to ever blow a 3-0 lead. While that is still unlikely, as Philly needs just one more win, many people aren’t putting that past Doc.
Embiid has told his coach what he thinks needs to be done. The question is whether the coach will actually do it or stick to his guns, as he has done many times in the past and blown a playoff lead with.
