The James Harden era is underway with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The former MVP made his highly-anticipated debut with his new team on Friday, helping the 76ers pull off a 133-102 blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Harden fit in seamlessly alongside superstar center Joel Embiid and co., elevating the team on the offensive end to help Philadelphia cruise to an easy victory.
But what did Harden do to make his impact felt in his Sixers debut? We grade his performance below.
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Grading James Harden’s 76ers debut
Grade: A+
Stats: 27 points (7-12 FG, 5-7 3PT, 8-9 FT), 12 assists, 8 rebounds
How do I put this without sounding like a prisoner of the moment? Everything was good.
Going into this contest, I was particularly curious to see how the addition of Harden would affect Embiid’s MVP-level play and Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris’ role on offense.
We quickly found out that Embiid would still get plenty of touches, finishing with a team-high 34 points. The 76ers ran plenty of sets to put Harden and Embiid into two-man action, allowing Harden to read and react if he should score for himself or set up his teammate.
Take this play below for example, where Harden got to an easy floater because Karl-Anthony Towns dropped too far down to keep Embiid in check.
Sixers are going to get a lot out of this action for Harden, he stops after the DHO to keep the defender on his back before getting into his floater, also this is really bad help from Russell. pic.twitter.com/Rh6eTV101X
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) February 26, 2022
And that’s just one instance – there were a handful of others where Harden found Embiid for a bucket or used their superstar gravity to find an open man on the perimeter.
After the game, Embiid put it best by saying, “That was probably the most wide open I’ve ever been in my career.”
Maxey was another player who flourished alongside Harden, dropping 28 points on an efficient 12-for-16 shooting from the field.
Whether he was running the floor next to Harden on the break or waiting for the ball to be swung his way on the perimeter, Maxey’s burst and speed was too tough for one defender to contain, but the Timberwolves couldn’t send any help with two prolific scorers in Harden and Embiid on the floor.
dangerous duo. pic.twitter.com/VxClQh97w1
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 26, 2022
That freedom made Maxey’s highlight reel look like a layup line for the night.
And then there was Harden scoring for himself, knocking down five 3-pointers, which is the same amount of 3s as Ben Simmons has for his entire career.
Harden’s lethal stepback was on tonight, even drawing a pair of and-one 3s.
🔥 Fear the Beard! 🔥
James Harden knocks down his second 4 point play of the night!
Watch his @sixers debut on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/oz9UCQxdQa pic.twitter.com/stvALGlKs8
— NBA (@NBA) February 26, 2022
Harden had the 76ers’ offense firing on all cylinders, looking as sharp as they have been all season. The spacing was beautiful, he set the table for easy looks for his teammates and knew exactly when to attack and put pressure on the defense as a scorer.
The Harden era in Philadelphia couldn’t have gotten out to a better start.
What’s next
Harden and the 76ers are back in action at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, taking on the New York Knicks at 1 p.m. ET on ABC.