PHILADELPHIA — James Harden delivered the full-court pass to Matisse Thybulle for the layup, then threw both arms into the air to signal touchdown.
That highlight-worthy play capped the 76ers’ second-half surge to top the New York Knicks, 123-108, in Harden’s home debut Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
For the bulk of the first half, it appeared the Knicks might spoil the buzz inside the Wells Fargo Center. New York built a 16-point lead, fueled by scoring 16 points off eight turnovers by a Sixers offense that did not initially flow nearly as sharply as in its first two games with Harden.
But the Sixers (38-23) closed the second quarter on an 8-2 run, including a rebound and fast-break bucket by Tobias Harris right before the buzzer, and then outscored the Knicks 38-19 in the decisive third quarter to seize the advantage for good.
The Sixers took their first lead at 74-73 when Harden hit two free throws as “Let’s go Harden!” chants rained down at the 5-minute, 56-second mark of the third quarter. Harden then pushed that advantage to 13 points with a finish through contact and an and-1 free throw with less than a minute to play in the period.
That advantage grew to a game-high 15 points when Tyrese Maxey hit two free throws with less than eight minutes to play.
Harden (25 points, nine rebounds, nine assists) was introduced first in the starting lineup, drawing a raucous roar from a jam-packed crowd. And he fittingly paced the Sixers while the rest of the offense sputtered in the first half, primarily by getting to the bucket. He scored 19 points before the break on 7-of-11 shooting, and added five rebounds and three assists.
The Sixers, who have won four games in a row and five out of their last seven, next play a challenging home-road back-to-back Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Saturday against the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat.
Help from his friends
Harden, Maxey, and MVP contender Joel Embiid created a lethal scoring trio in their first two games together. It took a half Wednesday for all three to find rhythm.
Maxey scored 21 of his 25 points after the break, and added four rebounds and three assists. He made just two of his first five shots, but exploded for 11 points in the third quarter to help the Sixers build a double-digit lead. He drained a corner 3-pointer with about eight minutes to play to cut the Knicks’ lead to 70-69. He put a wicked spin move on former college teammate Immanuel Quickley to draw a foul and made the free throws to push the Sixers’ lead to 80-75. And he sank a pull-up 3-pointer to extend that advantage to 87-77 with less than two minutes left in the quarter.
In the fourth, Maxey nailed a 3-pointer and then hit two free throws to put the Sixers up 107-92 with less than eight minutes to play, and another shot from beyond the arc to make the score 112-99 with 3:34 to remaining that felt like the game-clincher.
It even took Embiid (27 points, 12 rebounds) nearly a half to get rolling. He took only two shots in the first quarter, but did manufacture five points on six free-throw attempts. But he upped his aggressiveness after returning in the second quarter.
He hit an off-balance jumper on which he believed he was fouled, and received a technical foul for arguing with the officials after getting whistled for a foul inside on Mitchelll Robinson. Late in the second, he went coast-to-coast with the ball off a rebound, first finishing at the rim and then drawing a foul. He then scored 10 points in the third quarter to help him achieve his 27th game this season with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
In the third quarter’s opening minute, Embiid flipped the ball over his head through contact and hit the and-1 free throw, then buried a 3-pointer to cut the Knicks’ lead to 62-61 and force a timeout.
After struggling from the floor in his first two games with Harden, Harris finished with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added seven rebounds. He twice misfired on third-quarter attempts that would have given the Sixers their first lead of the game. But he collected seven quick points early in the fourth, including a 3-pointer that put the Sixers ahead 95-87 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Millsap still backup center
Coach Doc Rivers said following Tuesday’s practice and before Wednesday’s game that Wille Cauley-Stein, who signed a 10-day contract last week, would eventually get a chance at meaningful minutes. But that did not happen against the Knicks.
Veteran Paul Millsap was again Embiid’s backup, finishing with zero points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.
His started his first shift poorly. He committed a turnover in the first minute of the second quarter, which led to a Barrett finish through contact to put the Knicks up 36-25. On the Sixers’ ensuing possession, Millsap committed an offensive foul. Then, Cam Reddish blew by Millsap to extend New York’s advantage to 40-25. Millsap’s highlight of the night was a block on Obi Toppin about a minute later.
That was all part of a rough first half for the Sixers’ bench, which was outscored 19-9. Six of those nine points came from Shake Milton, including a steal and off-balance finish. Milton then took Korkmaz’s spot in the rotation, entering with about five minutes to play in the third quarter and finishing with 19 minutes.
That second unit got lifts after the break by getting two key 3-pointers in the third from Georges Niang.
