Harden stars in Philly debut, but ‘long way to go’

MINNEAPOLIS — The curtain raised for the first time on the Joel Embiid–James Harden partnership with the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night at Target Center as they took on the Minnesota Timberwolves. And, after two weeks of buildup and anticipation for what these two superstars would look like together, opening night lived up to the hype.

Behind 27 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists from Harden, and 34 points and 10 rebounds from Embiid, Philadelphia cruised to a 133-102 victory over Minnesota, in what Philadelphia hopes will be a sign of things to come.

“I keep telling our guys, yesterday and today, we don’t need to overcomplicate this early on, at least,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said before the game. “We need to just put guys in the right space and just play. We do that, and we’ll be OK.”

The Sixers (36-23) were more than OK Friday night, casually imposing their will on the Timberwolves (32-29) throughout the game, allowing Philadelphia to have a comfortable win and give their stars a seat on the bench for the game’s final minutes.

Harden, wearing his No. 1 jersey — the best-selling one in the NBA over the past two weeks — and with a white sleeve to go on his left leg that matched his white jersey, took the court for the first time as a 76er alongside Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, Tobias Harris and Embiid, greeting each of them before the opening tip.

But rather than imposing his will instantly, Harden instead was content to move the ball through the opening minutes, keeping it swinging from side-to-side rather than looking to score himself.

When he finally did, though, with 8:43 remaining in the first quarter, it was a familiar sight: Harden blasting his way through contact and finishing a layup at the rim, plus a foul. He picked up his first assist a short time later when he hit Harris on a delayed break for a pull-up 3-pointer that capped a 15-0 Timberwolves run and forced their coach, Chris Finch, to call timeout.

As the game wore on, the two superstars began to find their groove. While there was still some clear timing issues to sort out, anytime Harden and Embiid ran a pick-and-roll, it created a good scoring opportunity. And, playing against a Minnesota team that commits more fouls per game than any other NBA team, it was no surprise that Embiid and Harden — two of the best foul-drawers in the league — spent the game living at the charity stripe. In the first half alone, they combined for 19 free throws — 11 for Embiid, eight for Harden — as they shot more than Minnesota’s entire team (19-13).

With Harden now on the court, this provided a chance for Rivers to display whether he would follow through with something he had vowed to do: staggering his four best offensive players — Embiid, Harden, Harris and Maxey.

The logic was sound, as it would allow the 76ers to be as effective as possible offensively for as much of the game as possible. But it also is something Rivers has typically shied away from doing in the past.

True to his word, however, Rivers started the game doing just that. His first substitutions of the game, at the five-minute mark of the first quarter, were to take out Harden and Harris, and replace them with Furkan Korkmaz and Georges Niang. And, throughout the game — outside of 54 seconds across two stints late in the first quarter — he stuck to having at least two of those guys out there at all times, and never had a time when either Harden or Maxey was off the court except for a defense-only possession to end the first.

That plan got thrown off-kilter in the second half, however, when Maxey went to the bench early in the third with his fourth foul, leading to Rivers having an all-bench lineup on the court for a couple of minutes late in the end of the third quarter.

Ultimately, though, this game was about Harden and Embiid, and for a 76ers team that spent months waiting to see what would happen with Ben Simmons. Friday night was, for at least one night, an example of why 76ers general manager Daryl Morey waited for the right player to come along to trade Simmons away.

Harden pulled off three of his patented stepback 3-pointers, two of which that became four-point plays, and another as the shot clock wound down in the third, as Philadelphia casually put the game out of reach. And after a season when Philadelphia has only had one point guard on its roster — and that point guard, Maxey, is still learning the nuances of the position — Harden’s passing ability immediately began unlocking things that had otherwise been dormant for the Sixers offensively.

One such example was a behind-the-back dish to Embiid for a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter. Another, even though it didn’t result in a basket, was a no-look slip pass to Embiid in an open pocket in the defense at the free throw line.

But Harden’s presence also opened up other things, such as Maxey, who finished with 28 points on 12-for-16 shooting, repeatedly slicing through the defense for floaters and layups at the rim. His speed had Minnesota flummoxed all night, and also knocked down a couple of catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.

The second one, which came off a Harden pass with 4:25 remaining, put Philadelphia up by 27. And, as Finch called timeout, Harden raised his hands to the sky and let out a roar as he walked back to the bench for the final time of the night, emphatically capping off what could only be described as a debut that was everything the 76ers hoped it would be.