The Philadelphia 76ers have recently caught a defeat against the Brooklyn Nets, 129-100. There’s no doubt that this was an embarrassing loss, and what made it even worse was the fact that it was in Philadelphia, in front of a home crowd.
Despite this being a tough pill to swallow, sometimes teams need to go through adversity to improve. James Harden has recently claimed that this loss was “good for the team”.
James Harden: “Tonight was good for us. We got our ass kicked.”
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) March 11, 2022
James Harden: “Tonight was good for us. We got our ass kicked.”
James Harden has been through multiple playoff runs before, as well as one run to the NBA Finals. He definitely knows that things can get tough for teams in the playoffs, and the 76ers will need to learn how to bounce back from hard situations to become a championship-caliber team.
There’s no question that it was unfortunate for the team to get beaten in such a manner. But the bright side for the Philadelphia 76ers is that there’s still time for them to improve. The 76ers’ duo of Joel Embiid and James Harden has had solid performances prior to tonight, even earning comparison to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. However, Shaquille O’Neal brushed off those comparisons already, pointing out he won three championships together with Kobe Bryant.
“We won three out of four… No. No. Hell, no. Not after one year. Me and Kobe had eight years of damage together. No, not even close. Stop it. Listen, NO, H NO, and F NO.”
It remains to be seen if Joel Embiid and James Harden can win a championship together. On paper, they have the talent to do so, however, good things on paper don’t always translate to winning at the highest level.
Even with today’s loss though, the Philadelphia 76ers are still one of the favorites to win the NBA championship. Hopefully, we see the James Harden move pay off for the team, and we’ll see what ends up happening in the postseason.