James Harden Pinpoints 76ers’ Key Factor for Success vs. Pacers

James Harden and the 76ers picked up their first win against the Pacers on Monday.

The first week of the 2022-2023 NBA season did not go the way the Philadelphia 76ers hoped. After losing their season opener against the defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Celtics, the Sixers returned home to host the Milwaukee Bucks. 

While James Harden and the Sixers nearly completed an impressive comeback against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, an unsuccessful final shot by The Beard couldn’t fall. 

The Sixers went into their Saturday night matchup against the San Antonio Spurs 0-2. Despite being heavily favored, the Sixers couldn’t gain a rhythm against a young and scrappy Spurs team. That resulted in a third-straight loss for Philadelphia.

Going into Monday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers, veteran forward PJ Tucker preached getting the entire team on the same wavelength.

“[We] just got to get everybody on the same page,” Tucker said Monday morning. “I would say we got a lot of new guys getting integrated into the system and some system changes. We just gotta get better at communicating and get on the same page.”

76ers head coach Doc Rivers wanted his team to show more pace on Monday. And with pace comes execution. In the first quarter of action, the Sixers were aggressive offensively as they attempted 16 three-pointers. While they weren’t efficient right out of the gate, the Sixers knew that shots would fall over time once they established an offensive rhythm. 

In the second quarter, the Sixers went from averaging fewer than 38 percent from the field to knocking down 54 percent of their shots before going into the half with a 64-46 lead.

The Sixers got a little too comfortable coming out of the half as the Pacers outscored them 30-26 after being down as many as 20 points. But the Sixers shot at a high percentage in the fourth quarter and managed to keep their notable lead. 

“I just thought [the backcourt] brought it up with pace and a lot of advance,” said Sixers coach Doc Rivers after the game. “When Tyrese got it, it was usually from James throwing it ahead, and we’ve really focused on that this morning. Just get the ball up. Our goal was to get it past half-court by 20. I don’t think we accomplished that goal a lot, but we did get it up a lot earlier. That allowed, especially against trapping teams, they were switching and trapping Joel, having those four or five extra seconds to make the extra pass, guys get rhythm shots.”

The Sixers managed to spread the wealth on offense Monday night. James Harden and Joel Embiid combined for 55 points. Tobias Harris let it fly from deep all night as he collected 18 points. 

“It gives us more time to create a better shot,” said Harden, regarding the backcourt’s pace. “When you’re walking the ball up, you’re limited. The first couple of games, I put that on myself because I played some really good individual defensive players. I gotta push the ball up and push the tempo. Our ball handlers are doing a good job of that, and that’s going to give us more opportunities on the back end when the shot clock is going down. Tonight was a good start, and we just got to see doing it. 

With an impressive performance from the starters and much more help from the bench unit, the Sixers managed to put the Pacers away 120-106. With that victory, the Sixers snagged their first win of the season, moving to 1-3.

“It felt good, man,” Harden said. “Felt like we were 0-82. It felt good. It’s a work in progress. As much as we want things to happen overnight and for us to be 4-0, we’re 1-3. So, we just got to continue to work and continue to build good habits and live with the results.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.