The Philadelphia 76ers can’t get into the zone without James Harden
Since arriving in South Philadelphia, James Harden has been an absolute revelation.
“The Beard’s” scoring has been as advertised, his passing has been better, and his ability to galvanize his teammates into giving it their all whenever they take the court is the sort of intangible addition that could very well elevate the team from great to something special.
But eventually, the day was going to come when Harden would have to miss a game and revert the Philadelphia 76ers back to their pre-All-Star break form. Whether due to injury or scheduled rest – he did come to Philly with an ankle injury – Harden was eventually going to spend a game on the sidelines in street clothes, and the team would have to figure out what life is like without the 10-time All-Star once more.
Unfortunately, that day came on Saturday, March 5th, when the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Miami Heat on the second night of an East Coast-spanning back to back. Needless to say, it didn’t go particularly well for very obvious reasons.
The Philadelphia 76ers can’t only count on Harden to set up the perimeter game.
When news broke that Furkan Korkmaz was going to start in place of James Harden for an 8 pm Saturday night main event versus the Miami Heat, it was like an omen of things to come.
Since Harden made his on-court debut versus the Timberwolves, Korkmaz had made exactly one shot from the field over four games, a garbage time 3 in Minnesota after the starters had already called it a night. Since that contest, Korkmaz has certainly taken shots, from the field and from 3, but for one reason or another, they just never went in.
Did Doc Rivers think an extended run with the starters was just what the… coach ordered to get his one-time playoff sixth man back on track? Potentially, after the game Rivers mentioned that he wasn’t going to start Shake Milton and Tyrese Maxey because it would leave the team without a rotation backup point guard, but hey, take with that what you will.
Regardless of Rivers’ intentions, it didn’t really work out.
In 22 minutes of action, Korkmaz scored two points on 1-5 shooting from the field and 0-4 from beyond the arc and just generally struggled to find any sort of rhythm. It didn’t help that Joel Embiid had one of his worst games of the season either, scoring just eight points from the field on a 22-15 double-double, but that happens sometimes. Even if Maxey’s stretch of 20 point outings was snapped around four, he still put up 17 points on .500 shooting from the floor and 3, and clearly wasn’t the team’s biggest issue.
What, you may ask, was the team’s biggest issue? Predictably, it was 3 point shooting, especially against the zone.
Facing off in a coaching duel against fellow championship winner Erik Spoelstra, Rivers’ squad was brutalized by the Heat’s zone coverage and just couldn’t make the team pay when they double or even triple-teamed Embiid. The Sixers closed out the game with a 3 point shooting percentage of 17.1 on 41 attempts, which, needless to say, is just plain horrible.
The good news, when Harden returns, potentially as soon as Monday for a roadie against the Chicago Bulls, things should even themselves out, as “The Beard” is a playmaking genius who generates a ton of open looks with his on-ball ISO game that just begs for double-teams. But Harden can’t be on the court for 48 minutes a night like Wilt Chamberlain in the 1960s; eventually, the Sixers are going to need to settle on a contingency plan for when Harden and Embiid both aren’t on the court, even if we hope that day never comes in the postseason.
Next. Georges Niang is the Philadelphia 76ers’ best value bench player. dark
It’s not too hard to fill out a lineup alongside the Philadelphia 76ers’ Big 3 of Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, and Joel Embiid. All three are great drivers, dynamic scorers, and capable of shooting the ball from beyond the arc; they just need shooters surrounding them who can throw up 3s as quickly as possible and play solid defense at the other end of the court. Can the team get away with playing a non-shooter or two, like Matisse Thybulle or a center like DeAndre Jordan? You bet, Harden and Embiid draw so many double teams that having a talented cutter or a pick-and-roll screener can be valuable too, but for the most part, the Sixers need to prioritize keeping players like Georges Niang on the court as much as possible, as they are the key to defeating both double-teams and zone coverage. If Furkan Korkmaz can’t hit 3s at even a remotely average clip, then give his minutes to someone who will, whether that be Shake Milton, Danny Green, Isaiah Joe, or even a combination of the three.