James Harden Credits Mentality Change for 4th Quarter Dominance vs. Mavs

The Philadelphia 76ers have received some very quality minutes from their big trade acquisition James Harden so far. While the ten-time All-Star is still

The Philadelphia 76ers have received some very quality minutes from their big trade acquisition James Harden so far. While the ten-time All-Star is still building on-court chemistry with his teammates down the stretch, Harden continues to get more comfortable as the games pass.

Lately, Harden's been slightly less aggressive than expected, though. While the star guard often goes into a facilitator role, creating scoring opportunities for his teammates, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers made it clear that he wants Harden to be as aggressive as possible in the scoring department.

After back-to-back games with fewer than 20 points last week, Harden has picked up the slack a bit with his scoring. Over the next three games, he averaged 23 points in 41 minutes. When Friday's matchup against the Dallas Mavericks came about, Harden started off slow on the offensive end in the first half.

Through his first 21 minutes on the court, Harden scored just 11 points. He took six shots and went to the charity stripe twice. When he came out in the second half, his slow offensive game continued as he went 0-5 from the field and scored just two points off of free throws in nine minutes. 

As Harden entered the fourth quarter of Friday's game with just 13 points, it seemed the star guard was on pace to have another slow night overall. However, he came alive and helped the Sixers put their foot on the gas and speed by the Mavs.

Getting Aggressive 

"I Just wanted to be a little bit more aggressive," Harden said regarding his fourth-quarter mentality. "Just take advantage of the matchups and get the best shot available. Whether it was my shot, or getting to the basket, or creating opportunities for teammates, that's what I'm really good at. So, I see an opportunity, I see a window, I just wanted to do the best thing and take advantage of it."

Harden played in all but one minute of the fourth quarter. He was perfect from the field during that time as he made all of his three shots. From the free-throw line, Harden went 3-4. He wrapped up the final quarter with 11 points and four assists, helping the Sixers outscore the Mavericks 27-25 so they could close out the matchup with a 111-101 victory. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.