When a team is facing a challenge like Brooklyn Nets star James Harden, who is one of the league’s best players in how to score the ball, team effort is required. The Philadelphia 76ers discovered this quickly when they started working to slow it down.
Harden’s numbers look good on the final stats sheet. He had 26 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, but in the third quarter his chances were not there as at the start of the game.
Coach Doc Rivers changed Ben Simmons to the explosive star and he did an excellent job, but the team also received great efforts from Matisse Thybulle and Danny Green. These three closed Harden from the middle of the third quarter and were able to close their lanes to the basket.
“It was more in the third quarter, but I also thought having Ben protect him and then being able to trade pick-and-roll with Matisse and Danny was not just a guy,” said Rivers. “I thought having that group on the track at the same time, going out at halftime, getting stops, I thought, just the strength with which we played knowing that they played last night also helped a lot.”
These three are instinctive defenders and have the length and size to bother anyone who is thrown at you. Harden is a very smart player and he will usually find any incompatibilities and will hunt them down, but with those three on the ground, he had a hard time doing that.
“It’s difficult when you have those three guys on the floor,” said Joel Embiid. “Mainly because other teams are starting to hunt for some mismatches. There aren’t a lot of them on the floor with those three guys, so I thought they did a great job of stopping the ball. “
As far as Embiid was concerned, he had to make a choice whenever Harden drove, which was most of the time. He is just as adept at finishing difficult floats and also being able to find anyone outside the lob, as he did with DeAndre Jordan very early. The trio of defenders made it more difficult to do that.
“Sometimes, a lot tonight, they went there together to make sure there were no lanes,” said Embiid. “There were a few times when, in fact, many times James kept driving to the basket and basically I had to guess between contesting the shot or staying with DJ to make sure they didn’t catch a lob. We just have to play it safe with this kind of situation, but overall, I thought we did a good job. “
With Simmons being the main defender at Harden and then having Thybulle and Green jumping on the switches when the Nets tried to pick-and-roll, it made the 2018 MVP’s life miserable. The Sixers ended the third quarter with a 23-7 run on their way to victory due to defensive coverage at Harden.
“It makes it easier for us,” said Simmons. “I’m fine with Matisse changing who I’m going to and vice versa and the same with Danny. We trust each other as perimeter defenders, we have some of the best defenders in the league on the perimeter. I think with Danny, Matisse and me, I think we did very well, collectively, as defenders. ”
The Sixers will now face the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday to begin a journey.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook