PHILADELPHIA–As the Philadelphia 76ers were going for their fourth straight win on Friday, they would have to do so without Joel Embiid as he is dealing with left foot soreness at the moment. Without the big fella, it’s on others to step up in his place and provide on the offensive end.
It’s not like these where James Harden normally steps up and leads the way in terms of his scoring, but he couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean on Friday as Philadelphia fell to the Bulls 126-112. The big reason for the loss, of course, was Zach LaVine going for 41 and knocking down 11 triples, but Harden’s poor shooting didn’t help.
Harden shot 4-for-17 on the night and 3-for-9 from deep. He did shoot 2-for-3 in the fourth quarter, but at that point, the Bulls had the game in hand. It was too late for the Sixers.
“It was a tough night,” Harden said after the loss. “I feel like there was a lid on the rim and that’s a part of it. Just chalk it up. Keep pushing.”
Harden and the Sixers will now look to bounce back when they hit the road for a game on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons. If Embiid can’t go again, it will be on Harden to lead the way.
“I just thought he had a tough night which is human,” added coach Doc Rivers. “They have defenders. Patrick Williams–I mean, they have really good individual defenders and I thought that affected us.”
One can chalk this up to a bad night for The Beard, but he can’t make it a trend as Philadelphia turns its attention to Detroit.
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