“No, I’m not nervous, It’s basketball and we got championship aspirations”: James Harden on hosting former teammates Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Philadelphia

James Harden is not nervous ahead of the Sixers-Nets matchup, treating it like any other game, just like his teammate Joel Embiid.

It was no secret that Ben Simmons wanted out of Philadelphia, while James Harden had hit the all in Brooklyn, making it a perfect trade. However, both the All-Star guards did not leave on a good note, especially Simmons.

Thus there is a lot of anticipation building up going into Thursday’s game between the Sixers and Nets. Though Simmons is not playing the game, he will join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the road. On the other hand, James Harden, is looking to extend his perfect streak with the Sixers to 6-0.

There is still suspense around the reception Simmons would receive. On the other hand, Harden would be seeing his former teammates for the first time since his departure from Brooklyn.

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Nonetheless, The Beard isn’t bothered about the noise surrounding the matchup and expects to treat the game like any other, something that Embiid echoes, as well.

James Harden and Joel Embiid give their honest opinion ahead of the Sixers-Nets game.

While Harden will be facing his former teammate in the Nets, Embiid will be seeing his former teammate Simmons in the opposing camp. A perfect script for a movie. Nonetheless, the situation on the ground is very different.

Both Harden and Simmons seem to be unperturbed by all the noise.

“No. I’m not nervous,” Harden deadpanned. “It’s basketball. I put the work in to go out there and just play my game and live with the results. Honestly, every game is a big game for us. We’re fairly new. We got championship aspirations so every game is a learning process for us no matter who we’re playing.”

“Just a regular matchup,” Embiid said. “The season series is 2-1, so we need to win this game. It’s nothing, it’s a regular matchup for me, a regular-season game, so we’ve just got to come in with the same mindset that we’ve had and have better starts than we’ve been having lately. Focus on defense. They’ve got a lot of great players and offensively, just do what we did tonight.”

Via: SIXERSWIRE

With so much buzz around the regular-season game, one can only imagine what would it be like if these two teams face each other in a playoff series. The Sixers hold the edge currently, playing great basketball. On the other hand, the Nets are struggling at the 8th seed.

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One can expect the noise at the Wells Fargo Center to be deafening, with so much tension around the game.