The Philadelphia 76ers only have two regular-season games left before the playoffs and fans should be excited that the Sixers are a contender yet again. However, this season hasn’t been without its bumps and bruises.
One player in the starting five who hasn’t looked healthy for the last stretch of the season has been James Harden. Prior to being traded to Philly, Harden had been struggling with his hamstring for most of the season.
Once traded to Philly, there was a five-game stretch Harden looked like his old self until he had to rest against the Miami Heat on March 5, 2020. Since then, Harden has looked like he’s playing with injured. With the two final regular-season games being back-to-back outings, it can be argued that Harden should rest both games.
The Sixers should rest Harden for the rest of the regular season.
The pros to sitting Harden are simple, he would have more time to rest and recover. This is important considering that in April he’s struggled mightily and with the Sixers overall.
With the Sixers, Harden has averaged 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 10.3 assists, while shooting 40.0 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on 3-pointers. In April it’s been far worse, as he’s averaged 14.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 13.0 assists, while converting 33.3 percent of his shots from the floor and 29.2 percent from deep.
It’s more than likely that the 76ers are locked into the fourth seed. The third seed Boston Celtics are a half-game ahead of them in the standings and they own the tiebreaker, per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, so playing for seeding doesn’t make sense either.
Unless Boston loses their last game against the Memphis Grizzlies while Philly wins against the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons then it doesn’t matter if Harden sits. Let’s be honest, the 76ers can probably beat those two teams without Harden too.
If Harden can get two extra days of rest then it’s something the Sixers should do. It’s probably not going impact the standing so there’s no harm in it.