3 takaways from James Harden’s Philadelphia 76ers’ debut

If you are like me and many other Philadelphia 76ers fans that were able to see the Sixers’ blowout win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, then one word should be able to describe how you feel. That word is excited.

The reason being besides having a 133-102 win against a Western Conference playoff opponent after the All-Star break, it was the debut of James Harden. Harden was acquired at the NBA trade deadline for Ben Simmons.

Harden had a stat line of 27 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists, and two turnovers in 35 minutes. He also shot 7-12 from the field, 5-7 from the 3-point line, and 8-9 from the foul line. To say he had a sensational debut is an understatement. However, there are three big takeaways that fans can learn from Harden’s first game as a member of the Sixers.

3 takaways from Harden’s debut: Elite playmaking

Let’s start with the playmaking as his double-digit assist helped him notch his 30th double-double of the season. It was his 16th game where he had recorded 12 or more assists this year. This was also the sixth time this season where he had two or few turnovers.

From a playmaking perspective, this was one of his better games this season, but Harden has been an elite playmaker in this league for the past eight seasons. He clearly showed that tonight with being able to see plays one or two steps ahead of everyone else. This pass to Tyrese Maxey is a good example of that.

There were plenty of other examples of this throughout the game. The point being is that Harden is an elite playmaker and he makes life easy on everyone else. Don’t believe me? Let’s check out the stats of his co-stars.

Joel Embiid had 34 points on 10-18 shooting from the floor, 3-5 from deep, and 11-13 from the free throw line. Maxey had 28 points while converting  12-16 shots, going 2-3 from downtown, and 2-2 from the charity stripe. Harden’s passing allows the other parts of the Philadelphia 76ers core to focus on scoring.