Something is still amiss with James Harden. The 76ers point guard lacks the explosiveness he displayed while blowing past defenders with the Houston Rockets. It’s the result of the left hamstring tightness that sidelined Harden for most of February. “He’s still not there,” coach Doc Rivers said before Friday’s shootaround at UCLA. “But his miles per hour have increased. He’s … almost to the level of Houston as far as his miles per hour. He’s reached his top speed he hasn’t reached in two years. He’s still a work in progress. But [in] three weeks, we really feel at the time, he’ll be there at 100 percent.”
Source: Keith Pompey @ The Philadelphia Inquirer

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is still proud of his coaching accomplishments with L.A. Clippers inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-… via @phillyinquirer – 2:53 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Sixers coach Doc Rivers facing his former team tonight against the Clippers: “My time here was well spent. You look at the Clippers; they’re on the map. That was the goal. When I first came there, they were a laughing stock.” – 2:48 PM

CBS NBA @CBSSportsNBA
Sixers’ James Harden backs teammate Joel Embiid for MVP: ‘He deserves it, man’
cbssports.com/nba/news/sixer… – 1:09 PM

Ramona Shelburne @ramonashelburne
James Harden touts Joel Embiid for MVP award – ‘He deserves it, man’ espn.com/nba/story/_/id… – 10:54 AM

StatMuse @statmuse
Players in NBA history to average 25/5/5 with a .800 record or better:
Bird (1985-86)*
Jordan (1991-92)*
Barkley (1992-93)*
LeBron (2008-09)*
LeBron (2012-13)*
Steph (2015-16)*
Steph (2017-18)
Harden (2017-18)*
Giannis (2019-20)*
Booker this season
*Won MVP pic.twitter.com/444BzckSxa – 9:59 AM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
The @Toronto Raptors Fred VanVleet made two 3P in last night’s win over the Cavs.
Why is that noteworthy? He has made multiple 3P in each of his last 38 games, the fourth-longest such streak in NBA history:
53 – Stephen Curry
50 – Curry
40 – Paul George
38 – VanVleet
37 – James Harden pic.twitter.com/5VhPnb9mGh – 9:21 AM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
#LockedOnSixers Discussing Tyrese Maxey’s Sixers presence, Doc Rivers’ Clippers homecomi… youtu.be/LQInKBECibY via @YouTube – 8:08 AM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
‘Discussing Tyrese Maxey’s Sixers presence, Doc Rivers’ Clippers homecoming and if it’s a trap game’ by Locked On 76ers – Daily Podcast On The Philadelphia Sixers megaphone.link/LKN2807064135 – 8:05 AM

Gina Mizell @ginamizell
James Harden is not listed on the Sixers’ injury report for tomorrow’s game at the Clippers. He got kneed in the quad during last night’s win over the Lakers and briefly left the game but returned. – 8:06 PM

Austin Krell @NBAKrell
Interrupt the Nova game for quick injury report status:
After respective injury scares last night, neither Joel Embiid nor James Harden are listed on the injury report for PHI vs LAC tomorrow night.
Robert Covington questionable for the Clips with a sprained right hand. – 8:01 PM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
“No one wanted to play for the Clippers. We heard all of that. If there’s a free-agent war versus the Lakers, don’t try. ….”
Sixers coach Doc Rivers destroyed that myth and is still proud of his coaching accomplishments with Clippers inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-… via @phillyinquirer – 5:55 PM

Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin
Tyrese Maxey continues to take strides forward as a player and he received praise from James Harden and the others #Sixers sixerswire.usatoday.com/lists/james-ha… via @SixersWire – 2:48 PM

Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin
James Harden took a hit in the 2nd half in last night’s win. He discussed his health afterward. #Sixers sixerswire.usatoday.com/2022/03/24/six… via @SixersWire – 2:46 PM

John Schuhmann @johnschuhmann
New Notebook…
▪️ #s & film on James Harden’s first 12 games in Philly
▪️ Most improved offenses & defenses since the break
▪️ History of teams that ranked in top 5 on both ends
▪️ Celtics clutch vs. non-clutch differential & how similar teams have done
nba.com/news/power-ran… – 1:19 PM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
“I left [the Clippers organization] a place of destination,” Doc Rivers said.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers is still proud of his coaching accomplishments with L.A. Clippers inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-… via @phillyinquirer – 10:55 AM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
#Sixers coach Doc Rivers is still proud of his coaching accomplishments with L.A. #Clippers inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-… via @phillyinquirer – 10:42 AM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
Daryl Morey and James Harden have close ties to Kelvin Sampson — and aren’t surprised by his Houston success inquirer.com/sixers/kelvin-… via @phillyinquirer – 10:13 AM

Gina Mizell @ginamizell
James Harden said he got kneed in the quad when he took that spill near the end of the third quarter: “It wasn’t nothing too serious. It was painful when it happened and it’s a little sore now. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll just do some recovery and be ready to go for Friday.” – 1:47 AM

Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
Frank Vogel on Stanley Johnson’s defense on James Harden: “I think he guarded James tonight as well as anybody can guard him.” – 1:06 AM

Krishna Narsu @knarsu3
Wondering if @MoDakhil_NBA is right and the Sixers didn’t actually get better with the Harden trade. Looking into it- Sixers are +5.6 net rating in games Harden and Embiid play vs. +4.21 net rating in games Seth and Embiid played. So little better. – 12:58 AM

StatMuse @statmuse
The Sixers Big 4 combined for 95 points tonight.
30 — Embiid
24 — Harden
21 — Maxey
20 — Harris pic.twitter.com/2lvq9E8a2I – 12:37 AM

Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Final: Sixers 126, Lakers 121.
LAL battled throughout the evening, but Embiid (30 points, 10 boards) and the backcourt combo of Maxey and Harden (45 points, 14 assists combined) were too much.
Westbrook had 24, 9 and 8, and Howard 24 and 8. – 12:37 AM

Lauren Rosen @LaurenMRosen
The @Philadelphia 76ers beat the Lakers, 126-121.
Embiid: 30 PTS / 10 REB / 3 BLK
Harden: 24 PTS / 7 REB / 7 AST
Maxey: 21 PTS / 5 REB / 7 AST
Harris: 20 PTS / 7 REB / 5 AST
Same place on Friday. – 12:36 AM

Tony Mejia @MejiaDinero
Trash finish in NBA. 76ers let the Lakers hang around and James Harden’s body language has sucked all night – 12:34 AM

Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin
What is James Harden doing there? – 12:31 AM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Westbrook yanking the ball out of Harden’s hands as if he’s Seinfeld stealing the last piece of rye – 12:30 AM

Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
That last Sixers basket was tough. Basically two Lakers guarding Harden, 1.5 on Embiid (with Johnson eventually hedging over) and Russ caught in no-man’s land with an outside and inside guy to watch. AK – 12:30 AM

Rich Hoffman @rich_hofmann
James Harden is about to check in for, presumably, the final 6:33 of this game. Sixers up by 7. – 12:11 AM

Lauren Rosen @LaurenMRosen
A welcome sight for @Philadelphia 76ers fans – James Harden checking back in now. – 12:10 AM

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
James Harden just walked to the locker room at Staples Center after landing awkwardly and grabbing at his right knee/quad late in the third quarter. – 11:55 PM

Dave Early @DavidEarly
Heres where James Harden seems to hurt his right knee or thigh. Hopefully he banged it. pic.twitter.com/M6sT3glFuf – 11:55 PM

Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
LAL have trimmed Philly’s once 14-point lead down to 2 at 93-91 after Wenyen Gabriel beat the 3rd Q buzzer with a layup. It was a 7-0 spurt to close the period.
Meanwhile, Harden just headed to the Sixers locker room with an injury. – 11:55 PM

Gina Mizell @ginamizell
James Harden just went back to the locker room. Meanwhile, on the court, Gabriel’s shot that rolled in right before the buzzer has the Lakers within 93-91 heading to the fourth. Sixers led by as many as 14 in the period. – 11:55 PM

Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Gabriel at the third-quarter buzzer. Lakers have clambered back in it, 93-91 Sixers lead. James Harden may be hurt. We’ll see. – 11:55 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
Looks like Harden has a quad contusion from driving his thigh straight into a defender trying to draw a foul. – 11:54 PM

Melissa Rohlin @melissarohlin
After falling to the ground in pain, James Harden is walking back and forth in front of the team’s bench. – 11:54 PM

Derek Bodner @DerekBodnerNBA
Could not see where on that drive he locked up, but James Harden is grabbing his right leg after that last drive. – 11:54 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
James Harden appeared to be hurting his right knee after driving to the basket. But he has since been walking on his own back to the Sixers bench – 11:53 PM

Dave Early @DavidEarly
Really scary moment for Sixers fans, as James Harden stayed down after a drive. Looks like he was working his right knee/leg. – 11:52 PM

Kyle Goon @kylegoon
James Harden goes down, is picked up and walks off slowly. – 11:52 PM

Kyle Neubeck @KyleNeubeck
Harden grabbed his right leg there after going down and then stomped his left foot down in frustration / possible pain. Not great. – 11:52 PM

Gina Mizell @ginamizell
James Harden is still down, with teammates now coming over from the bench on the opposite side of the court to surround him. – 11:52 PM

Rich Hoffman @rich_hofmann
James Harden down after that drive, whole Sixers team going to check on him. – 11:52 PM

Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin
Well, that’s not a good sign. James Harden is down in pain after that drive. – 11:52 PM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
Harden is down in pain – 11:51 PM

Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
As expected, a big gap in FT attempts tonight, with foul-seeking Embiid and Harden totaling 16 attempts between them.
Philly: 16 for 20
Lakers: 5 for 5 – 11:50 PM

Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin
James Harden looks more effective in this 3rd quarter. The drives still look slower than usual, but he’s at least finishing them. #Sixers – 11:50 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
The arena wakes up and yells out “airball” chants after James Harden whiffs on a 3. – 11:43 PM

Rich Hoffman @rich_hofmann
Sixers are getting dinged up a bit in this game. Looked like Harden had something happen to his right leg (maybe ankle?). Embiid’s back was in some pain in the first half after a hard foul by Stanley Johnson. – 11:29 PM

Gina Mizell @ginamizell
Halftime: Sixers 61, Lakers 52. This game still feels like a slog, but the Sixers did have but more burst in the second quarter to create some distance. Embiid has 16 and 7. Maxey with 11. Harden is 2-of-10 from the floor. Sixers have 20 bench points. – 11:11 PM

Lauren Rosen @LaurenMRosen
The @Philadelphia 76ers lead, 61-52, at halftime in Los Angeles.
Embiid: 16 PTS / 7 REB / 2 BLK
Maxey: 11 PTS / 4 REB / 4 AST
Harris: 9 PTS / 3 REB / 3 AST
Harden: 5 PTS / 3 REB / 4 AST
Niang: 9 PTS / 2 AST – 11:11 PM

Rich Hoffman @rich_hofmann
Harden’s drives have been super slow. Does not seem to be a ton of burst there. – 11:08 PM

Gina Mizell @ginamizell
Sixers finally catching some offensive rhythm. Maxey with a couple buckets, before Harden found Jordan for the easy finish. Harden is 1-of-6 from the floor but already has 4 assists. – 10:59 PM

John Schuhmann @johnschuhmann
Sixers didn’t stagger Harden & Embiid. Both have been sitting for the last ~5 minutes. May have been a situation where they didn’t get a dead ball at the right time. – 10:52 PM

Austin Krell @NBAKrell
18 points from PHI’s bench so far. Not even halfway through the 2nd quarter yet. Infinitely more dangerous if they can get some offensive production when Harden, Embiid are off the floor. – 10:52 PM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
Lakers lead 30-27 after one quarter. Stanley Johnson has 13 points on 5-5 shooting to lead the Lakers. James Harden has struggled to find his groove for the Sixers with three points on 1-6 shooting. – 10:42 PM

Rich Hoffman @rich_hofmann
Harden and Embiid played pretty much that whole quarter together. Didn’t go so hot, Sixers trail 30-27 as the Lakers shot 6-9 from deep.
Georges Niang keeping the Sixers in it, knocked down all three 3s. Wonder when teams are going to start switching that screen with Harden. – 10:42 PM

Kyle Neubeck @KyleNeubeck
Seems like Maxey is going to get a chance to be the ballhandler leading the second unit tonight, with Harden playing all of the first quarter (so far) alongside Embiid.
They could certainly use Maxey’s burst of energy tonight! – 10:38 PM

Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Terrific start from Stanley Johnson, who has 10 points on one end (4 of 4 FG’s, 2 3’s), and has held Harden (1 for 6 FG’s) in check on the other. – 10:34 PM

Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin
Should Joel Embiid win the MVP? Doc Rivers builds the case for his star. #Sixers sixerswire.usatoday.com/2022/03/23/doc… via @SixersWire – 10:15 PM

Jason Dumas @JDumasReports
The Heat just lost back to back games to the Sixers and the Warriors.
Embiid, Harden, Curry, Green, Thompson, Porter Jr. all were out.
That’s rough. – 10:07 PM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
#DidYouKnowFlow: Sixers PG James Harden needs six made shots to tie Stephen Curry for 80th on the NBA all-time made shots list at 6,875. – 10:04 PM

Sam Quinn @SamQuinnCBS
On Monday the Heat lost to Philly without Embiid and Harden
Tonight they lost to the Warriors without Curry, Klay, Draymond or Porter
They now have just a one-game lead on Milwaukee in the loss column for the No. 1 seed. The Bucks have the tiebreaker. HCA is officially in play – 9:58 PM

Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin
The Heat lost to a Sixers team missing Joel Embiid and James Harden and then return home and lose to a Warriors team missing Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson. So it isn’t just the Sixers who do that. – 9:57 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Sixers coach Doc Rivers on LeBron James missing tonight’s game and the “tough” trend of stars missing marquee games pic.twitter.com/YkzybzCiHi – 9:36 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
Heat again struggling against the shorthanded, tied 50-50 vs. the no-Steph, no-Klay, no-Draymond, no-Otto Warriors at half, a game after losing to the no-Embiid, no-Harden 76ers. Butler with 15 for Heat. – 8:41 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Doc Rivers on LeBron James missing tonight’s game vs Sixers, and star players missing marquee games pic.twitter.com/hBKTOnLrRC – 8:38 PM

Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
A star is born: How James Harden morphed from ‘nothing special’ to a generational talent inquirer.com/sixers/james-h… via @phillyinquirer – 2:00 PM

Kyle Neubeck @KyleNeubeck
An overdue mailbag @thephillyvoice, where we discuss:
—Backup center, naturally
—Doc Rivers
—James Harden impressions
—Elden Ring
and more phillyvoice.com/sixers-mailbag… – 1:45 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Otto Porter, Andre Iguodala, James Wiseman all out for Warriors tonight at Heat. Of course, Heat failed in similar rodeo Monday against a 76ers team lacking Embiid and Harden. – 1:32 PM

Sean Highkin @highkin
At @BleacherReport ahead of Lakers-Sixers: On Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Dwight Howard and the loss of control that comes with this era of constant superstar movement bleacherreport.com/articles/10030… – 11:02 AM

Gina Mizell @ginamizell
“I was just trying to help the kid reach his dreams. That’s all I cared about.”
As James Harden returns to his roots in LA and Phoenix for the first time as a Sixer, I talked to some folks who knew him best back then:
inquirer.com/sixers/james-h… – 10:26 AM

Brian Seltzer @brianseltzer
Nice read from @Gina Mizell as James Harden heads back home, this time with his new team.
inquirer.com/sixers/james-h… – 10:13 AM

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
For the first time since January 2019, the Clippers have lost 4 straight gamed.
Nuggets take season series 3-1 after beating Clippers 127-115, dropping Clippers to 36-38.
This was only Clippers game in a 6-day span. They return home Friday night to host Doc Rivers’ 76ers. – 12:25 AM

Dave Early @DavidEarly
Showed my new Bullies shirt to a non NBA fan, she said: “oh I know! Don’t tell me! James Harden! Joel Embiid! and … (pause) wait…Bart Simmons?”
🤣🤣🤣
LFG @CookiesHoops pic.twitter.com/WIl8deLqy0 – 8:20 PM

Austin Krell @NBAKrell
No Joel Embiid or James Harden on the injury report for tomorrow’s game vs the Lakers.
LeBron James is questionable for LA. – 7:40 PM

More on this storyline

The Sixers think Harden is in good hands with Simon Rice, the team’s vice president of athletic care. “We’re lucky. Simon wrote three or four books on hamstring injuries,” Rivers said. “It’s just luck that he’s on our staff. James has bought into him 100 percent. It’s funny that the big thing with James, once he had those injuries, you could tell he didn’t want to play at top speed, because that’s how you hurt it. Simon’s philosophy is the exact opposite to get him playing at that speed to condition the hamstring to be able to play at that speed.” -via The Philadelphia Inquirer / March 25, 2022

Ky Carlin: Doc Rivers says there’s nothing to read into James Harden being out tonight Tobias Harris is still under the weather, but he’ll give it a go again tonight #Sixers -via Twitter @Ky_Carlin / March 5, 2022

Ira Winderman: Philadelphia is holding James Harden out of tonight‘s game in Miami due to a hamstring. -via Twitter @IraHeatBeat / March 5, 2022