NEW YORK — Two games against so-so, at-best teams are far from a defining body of work. However, James Harden’s effect on the 76ers is undeniable.
The point guard recorded a triple-double to lead the Sixers to a 125-109 victory over the New York Knicks in Sunday’s matinee at Madison Square Garden. This comes after Harden’s stellar double-double in his Sixers debut in Saturday’s road victory at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This time, Harden had 29 points, 16 assists, and 10 rebounds to go with five steals.
Just like on Friday, the Sixers (37-23) also received stellar performances from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in a victory.
Embiid finished with 37 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and four blocks, while Maxey added 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Tobias Harris, however, had his second consecutive poor-shooting performance. The standout power forward missed his first six shots before making three late fourth-quarter baskets. He finished with 12 points on 3-for-9 shooting.
The power forward’s first basket was huge. His corner three-pointer with 4 minutes, 2 seconds remaining gave the Sixers a 115-107 cushion.
Solid foul shooting
Stellar foul shooting contributed to the win.
The Sixers made 39 of 44 foul shots for the game, and were clutch in the fourth quarter.
That’s when they made all 12 of their free throws in what was a tight game.
Embiid, who finished 23-for-27, made six, Harden had four, while Harris made two. The Sixers had a 108-107 lead after Embiid made his third and fourth free throws of the quarter with 6:16 left.
Then after scoring on a dunk 33 seconds later, Embiid made his fifth and sixth foul shots at the 4:55 mark to make it a 112-105 game.
Harden the passing wizard
If there was a face of getting teammates involved, that face would be Harden’s.
The Sixers point guard had a hand in the Sixers’ first four baskets of the game.
He scored a layup on an assist from Harris to get the Sixers a 7-6 lead 2:06 in. Then, he assisted on consecutive dunks by Embiid before doing the same for Matisse Thybulle.
The first non-Harden contributed basket came on Maxey’s transition basket to give the Sixers a 15-13 advantage with 7:52 left in the quarter.
Harden went on to finish with 13 points while making 3 of 4 of his shots and all five of his foul shots in the first quarter. He also added four assists and two steals.
Big first-half run
The Sixers gave themselves a little breathing room with a 16-5 run over a 5:12 stretch. The run began with Harden’s step-back three-pointer to give his team a 38-35 lead with 3.3 seconds left in the first quarter. Maxey capped the run with a three-pointer to give the Sixers a 51-40 cushion with 6:51 before intermission.
The Knicks pulled within six points twice. But Embiid responded with a 6-0 run to put the Sixers up, 63-51, with 1:40 left in the half. The Sixers went into intermission up nine points (65-56).
Embiid (10 points), Maxey (seven points), and Harden (two points, six assists, four rebounds, and two steals) all had big second quarters. But the key stretch came during the 16-5 run.
The Knicks, however, didn’t roll over. They battled back from a 10-point deficit and pulled to within one point (88-87) on Immanuel Quickley’s corner three-pointer with 1:08 left in the third quarter. Then Slam Dunk champion Obi Toppin knotted the score at 91 on a dunk 14 seconds into the fourth. The Knicks took a 94-93 lead, their first of the second half, on Quickley’s three-point play 59 seconds into the quarter.
Harris struggles
Harris was the forgotten one in Friday night’s victory in Minnesota.
He finished with six points on 2-for-9 shooting while the other starters — Embiid (34 points), Maxey (28), Harden (27), and Thybulle (11) scored in double digits.
Coach Doc Rivers was asked before Sunday’s game if he was going to make a conscious effort to get Harris involved early.
“He had great shots,” Rivers said. “Listen, we are in the win business. We don’t try to keep everybody happy, because if that’s true we’d be in the loss business.
“Tobias is going to get great shots. That’s why he was happy after the game. He was like, man, gosh, I have to take advantage of all these opportunities I got. He felt like he didn’t . But, you know, over the long haul he will.”
Harris missed his first shot on Sunday, a wide-open three-pointer, with 6:24 left in the first quarter. He went on to miss his second attempt, which was a wide-open three-pointer before missing a 13-foot shot a couple of minutes later.
On several occasions, the power forward passed up open opportunities created by Harden passes, but put the ball on the floor instead. He appeared to be pressing early.
Things didn’t get any better for him after intermission.
Harris missed a three-pointer 22 seconds into the third quarter. He scored his first two points on a pair of foul shots at the 10:30 mark of the quarter. But 26 seconds later, Harris had a dunk blocked by guard Alec Burks. Harris thought he was fouled and complained to the ref while running back on defense. He continued yapping during a break in action and received a technical foul.
Harris went on to miss his next two shots. His two foul shots with 8:52 left, however, gave the Sixers a 102-100 lead.
