The Philadelphia 76ers they won their third match in four outings during their current run five-match away tour and pending the closing of the same, this Tuesday in Minnesota, it can already be said that going out on the Sixers route will have a positive balance. His new victim was Indiana Pacerswith a rich final index of it 147-143.
The win left Philadelphia with 42-22 record and those of Rivers keep his hope overtake the Boston Celtics for second place in the East: At the end of the day on Monday, they are two games away from Joe Mazzulla’s. Difficult, but not impossible (they have to play one more game Kiss).
Whether or not they beat Boston, and unless there is a noticeable slump in these final weeks of the Regular Season, everything points to the Sixers re-entering the Playoffs not as a contender, but as a contender. team with the highest possible ambitions. And behind this good gift of Rivers stands out not only a Joel Embiid MVP level campaignbut also a masterful moment of his James Harden on the basis.
The beard didn’t have his best shooting night at Indiana (14 points, 3-11 pitch) but was the key to Philadelphia’s triumph with no less than 20 assists, his second-best mark of the season (21 vs. Clippers in December). Moreover, it came down 9 rebounds.
lip rocking pic.twitter.com/32EGhNgwpe
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 7, 2023
Now, Harden is averaging 25 points, 10.3 assists and 6 rebounds in his last 10 games. And the 76ers are 7-3 on them, with two of the three losses coming by one possession.
After a rather sluggish start to the season, Harden’s performance will once again load him with pressure ahead of the playoffs he was normally charged with. The expectations are very different, from that Harden who was around 15 or 20 points early in 2022-2023, to him having numbers worthy of some of his best years with the Rockets.
https://t.co/UQWKzRTB0W pic.twitter.com/lE9G709NKN
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 7, 2023
It’s inevitable to expect the Los Angeles native to carry that production into the postseason, and it’s known that The 76ers won’t get very far if they hit one of their typical slumps..
The last few weeks confirm it: Harden capable of around 30 points and 10 assists is still around. Maybe not for an entire season, but for stretches of it. Philadelphia hopes the string doesn’t stop in that final and decisive stretch.
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