By Dylan MacKinnon
It has been over two weeks since the Sixers made waves throughout the NBA by acquiring James Harden from the Nets. And since that day, it is pretty much all the entire city has talking about. Every show the past two weeks has been about Harden being a Sixer. Every caller has wanted to talk about Harden. James Harden has the highest selling Jersey since the Trade Deadline, and Sixers the highest selling team Jersey.
James Harden has the top selling jersey in the NBA
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 24, 2022
And Sixers are the top selling team since the trade, according to @Fanatics
📸 @sixers pic.twitter.com/0DZBSvPicE
The wait is finally over as Harden is set to take the court tonight in the Sixers first game out of the All Star break.
So what should Sixers fans expect to see? Will he have a vintage Harden performance where he drops 40? Or will he more so try in ingratiate himself to his teammates and rack up assists. It was Harden’s passing that stood out most to Doc Rivers in Practice.
“I thought what stood out today was his passing ability. You know he can score. You know he can get downhill. Guys got a lot more, than they thought. And they were wide open so that was pretty good.”- Doc Rivers after Sixers Practice
Doc has also said that he will stagger the minutes of the four main guys, Embiid, Harden, Harris, and Maxey, so that at least two of them are on the court at all times. A promise that will certainly please many Sixers fans sick of the All bench lineup. Tonight we will get a look at which of those two he will pair together. Though what he does tonight may not be what he sticks with. It is likely Doc will tinker with a lot of different combinations to see which works best.
We will also get a better idea of who the 5th starter will be. Many expect it to be Thybulle. But as we saw vs the Bucks, when Thybulle is struggling on the offense, Doc is not afraid to have a quick leash on Thybulle. Even if Thybulle starts tonight, it is possible that eventually changes if he continues to play poorly when on offense.
Whoever the 5th starter is, all eyes will still be on Harden and Embiid tonight. We will get to see what their two man game looks like. Eyes will certainly be glued to the TV, or ears to the radio, when the ball tips at 8pm. The only thing that may rival this game will be when Harden makes his home Debut next Wednesday vs the Knicks.