The Philadelphia 76ers imploded down the stretch Thursday night and lost Game 6, and James Harden had a bad game.
There’s a strong correlation, obviously, between Harden’s bad games and 76ers losses in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Yet after a 95-86 loss to the Boston Celtics, a game in which Harden shot 4-of-16 from the field, missing all six 3-point attempts, the 10-time All-Star defended his play. He pointed the finger at another factor — the referees.
“Tonight was frustrating because … I’m number one in fouls that don’t get called,” Harden said (via The Philadelphia Inquirer). “I’m not going to look at my shooting percentage. I did a lot of good things offensively.”
Harden says that officials admitted to him at halftime they missed calls. He may be the NBA career leader in blaming refs for missing calls on him, and he’s often right. There are actually several videos on the internet showing officials missing blatant fouls committed against Harden.
But Harden has to put that aside and take responsibility for not playing well in Game 6.
Harden has averaged 34.7 points per game in Philadelphia’s three wins in this series. He has averaged 15 points (hitting 20.4% from the field) in the three losses. Incredibly, he’s hit only 2-of-19 3-pointers in those three games.
Which Harden will show up for Game 7 in Boston Sunday night?
NBA fans and 76ers faithful says Harden needs to step up and stop complaining.
Refs had nothing to do with it. James Harden coming up real small again had everything to do with it. For every good game he has , three bad will follow. Turnovers and bad misses.
— Tom McCarthy (@tmccarthy67) May 12, 2023
James Harden used up too much energy complaining to the refs.
The number of times Embiid didn’t even cross half court to play defense.
Tatum showed what it takes to play like an MVP.
‘I didn’t touch the ball last four minutes,’ Embiid said.— John Quinn (@johnquinn83) May 12, 2023
James Harden is who he is. He’s going to fail in the playoffs. It’s inevitable.
— Bj k£MpiLization (@BJtheKemp) May 12, 2023
Love how James Harden, a guy who historically chokes in deciding games in the playoffs, was the guy who kept getting the ball and Joel didn’t touch it once. Come on man
— Wigs (@WigsGaming) May 12, 2023
