Top Takeaways from James Harden, Joel Embiid, 76ers' Loss vs. Nuggets

For the second time in a week, the Philadelphia 76ers were handed a home loss by a likely playoff team.

Nikola Jokic finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to win the battle of the bigs against Joel Embiid in the Denver Nuggets' 114-110 victory.

Embiid finished with 34 points and nine rebounds but fell silent in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets came back from a seven-point deficit.

The difference largely came via the bench, with Bones Hyland (21 points) outscoring the Sixers reserves (14 points) by himself. Philadelphia's reserve unit shot a ghastly 4-of-24 from the field, including a 2-of-12 effort from Georges Niang. That poor shooting performance didn't stop Niang from being on the floor and taking a potential game-tying three with 4.9 seconds remaining—and then getting his own rebound and subsequently missing the putback.

The Sixers have now lost two of their last three games after winning their first five with James Harden in the lineup.  

James Harden and the Weight of Expectations

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

This is James Harden's last chance. 

That's what 16 months worth of agitating, pouting and showing up to work out of shape gets you. There are no more chances, no more trades to be forced, no more excuses.

Harden has a (fully vaccinated) co-star playing MVP basketball. He has a solid supporting cast, equipped with a budding young star next to him in the backcourt, a solid spot-up shooter on the wing and All-Defense-level defenders who can hide his deficiencies.

The title race is wide open. Kyrie Irving's refusal to get vaccinated and Harden's agitating exit crushed the hopes of the only potential superteam in basketball before they could ever get off the ground.

Every contender has glaring, obvious flaws. The Sixers have the best one-two punch in basketball; there are no excuses. The time is now.

Harden's record under pressure is...well...well, it's completely awful.

Of the superstars of this generation, no one has wilted as much or as spectacularly as Harden in big moments. Everyone remembers the Rockets famously clanking 27 straight threes in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals. But there was also Harden's 12-turnover outing in Game 5 of the 2015 Western Conference semifinals against the Warriors. And Harden shooting 2-of-11 in Game 6 of the 2017 Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs. And Harden getting bailed out by his teammates in a 4-of-15 shooting performance in Game 7 of a 2020 first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The first glimpses of Harden in big moments with the Sixers haven't engendered much confidence. 

Harden put together one of the worst single-game performances of his life last week against his former team, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-17 shooting as the Nets bludgeoned him on both ends of the floor. His most notable contributions of the fourth quarter Monday night were getting into a jawing match with DeMarcus Cousins and turning the ball over during a critical possession in the final minute.

This is the second time in a week that Harden has heard boos from a home crowd, and we're still in the honeymoon phase. 

The city of Philly has spent the entire 2021-22 season at a heightened state of agitation already amid the Ben Simmons situation. Harden's a mercenary, brought in to deliver Joel Embiid a championship before his body starts breaking down.

Anything less and Harden's going to become a pariah fast. And this time, there's nowhere left for Harden to go. He made his bed. He wanted this. 

Now it's time for him to deliver. 

The Tobias Harris Conundrum

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

If the Sixers win the title this season, it's overwhelmingly likely they run things back and try adding pieces on the margins to fortify their rotation.

Anything less than a championship, and I hope Tobias Harris is a tenant rather than a homeowner.

To say Harris is overpaid is to say Philadelphia is famous for cheesesteaks. It's so blatantly obvious the words aren't necessary.

Harris is a fundamentally solid NBA starting 4. He's a solid (but unspectacular) shooter, solid (but unspectacular) rebounder and solid (but unspectacular) defender. He is a player who engenders zero strong emotions one way or another—right until you remind a Sixers fan he's getting paid $36 million to be functionally forgettable, and then you get very strong emotions.

It's not necessarily about the money. Fans don't care—or, at least they shouldn't—about how much cash a multi-billionaire is shelling out to field a competitive basketball team.

Rather, it's about what that money could be spent on. Harris is the NBA's 13th-highest-paid player, ranking ahead of names like Bradley Beal, Khris Middleton and, you know, Joel Embiid.

He's being paid superstar money and giving you Tobias Harris basketball. That's not Harris' fault; he didn't force the Sixers to pay Lamborghini money for a Toyota. 

But it does hamper the Sixers' flexibility and will through the 2023-24 season. No team is going to take on Harris this offseason without the Sixers handing them additional compensation.

And here's the dirtiest secret: the Sixers need Harris. He may not be worth $36 million, but he's definitely worth half of that. In the event the Sixers find some team willing to take on his salary, they still need to replace the very-solid production Harris gives them. They won't be able to find that with the mid-level exception or (more likely) the taxpayer mid-level. 

Fans, and sometimes the media, often make the mistake of understating a player's value because of his contract. Harris isn't worth $36 million, so he's worthless—and that could not be further from the case. The Sixers use Harris to prop up bench-heavy minutes, a potential major weakness, and teams respect him enough as a spot-up shooter that it spaces the floor for Embiid and Harden to do their thing. 

What's more, Harris' gargantuan salary is offset by the fact Tyrese Maxey is making peanuts ($2.6 million) while developing into a potential All-Star. 

The Sixers will feel the pressure to trade Harris and likely will this summer if they aren't hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy in June. I just wouldn't be so eager to make that happen until we hear what the team can get in return.