NEW YORK — There was just over a minute left, and the home half of the Madison Square Garden crowd had ceded its ground. As James Harden gathered in the errant shot on the baseline, the building swelled with applause. Later, the Sixers' newest superstar would shrug off the triple-double with the casual air of a man who had already logged 67 of them in his career. But for the thousands of Philadelphians who'd traveled north to get their first glimpse of Harden in a Sixers uniform three days ahead of his home debut, the moment meant something. It wasn't just a milestone. It was a confirmation.
"I'm looking forward to Wednesday," said Harden of his looming Wells Fargo Center debut. "Tonight felt like we were in Philly."
Not that anybody needed an arbitrary statistical threshold to convince them of the things they'd spent four quarters watching. By the time Harden and the Sixers dribbled out the closing moments of a 125-109 win over the Knicks, they'd made the reality of their new era abundantly clear. The city has never seen a team like this before. The NBA may not have, either.
