How 76ers Plan to Help James Harden’s Inside Scoring Struggles

James Harden's inside scoring remains a work in progress against the Nets.

Despite entering the 2023 NBA Playoffs healthier than last year’s run, Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden has looked slightly off on the offensive end. 

In Game 1, Harden struggled from the floor early on before lighting up shots from beyond the arc. With his step-back working against Brooklyn’s defenders, Harden remained the hot hand and knocked down 54 percent of his 13 attempted threes.

However, scoring inside the arc was an issue. Harden finished Game 1 by shooting 38 percent from the field. His Game 2 performance was an all-around struggle offensively, as he drained just 23 percent of his shots, making two of his eight attempts from deep.

Harden finished Philadelphia’s Game 2 matchup against the Nets with just eight points in 38 minutes. After the game, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers acknowledged that despite Harden’s shooting struggles, the veteran guard still facilitated the offense to victory.

“He ran the team in the second half,” said Rivers on Monday. “That’s what we needed him to do tonight. He didn’t have a great offensive night scoring, but the second-half adjustment by James was because he had to be the guy to do it. He ran the team, and that’s why we won the game.”

Despite a poor offensive outing in Game 2 from Harden, the Sixers are confident that the ten-time All-Star will find his way back on track.

“He’s getting there,” said Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey. “He’s just got to finish.”

Through both playoff games, Harden has shot just 14 percent at the rim. During the regular season, he shot 57 percent from point-blank range, according to Cleaning the Glass. Harden’s struggles don’t stop at the rim, either. In the mid-range, where Harden knocked down 44 percent of his shots throughout the year, he’s made just 17 percent through two playoff games.

“It’s not like he can’t get there,” Maxey continued. “He’s getting to the rim. I’m not worried about James making layups.”

But even in the event that the Sixers might feel concerned about Harden’s struggles in that department, Maxey is confident that Harden will still help the team in other ways.

“When he gets to the rim, the defense has to collapse, and they know he’s a threat scoring there,” Maxey continued. “So, because he’s a threat to score, and because he’s James Harden, he’s gonna attract so much attention on the drives. Him being a great playmaker, kick out to shooters, or dump off to Joel, and it gets some open threes as well.”

It will be up to Harden to improve his success inside the paint, but what are Doc Rivers and the coaching staff doing to help Harden succeed? Encourage better spacing.

“We showed it on film today, our spacing was terrible in the entire first half [of Game 2],” Rivers explained. 

“Even when James did get in the paint, there were two of our guys standing there. Like, in basketball if they get to the paint, It's okay if two defensive players are there, but two of your guys shouldn't be there as well because that makes it easier for them to help. I thought our space was really poor in transition, especially. That’s where it has to be at its best we have to run wide. We have too many guards, too many threes, and fours running down the floor where they should be running out wide. And we didn't do that for whatever reason.”

The Sixers and the Nets will meet in Brooklyn for Game 3 on Thursday night. Despite Harden’s struggles as of late, his team remains in control of the series with a 2-0 lead. As the Nets look to tweak their game to try and avoid going 0-3, the Sixers will look to find improvement in select areas, with Harden’s inside scoring being one of them.