The Philadelphia 76ers took the floor tonight for Game 2 against the Boston Celtics. After James Harden led the stunning win against the Cs in Game 1, the fans expected tonight to be even better as Joel Embiid returned to the floor. Instead, the game turned out to be a disastrous blowout, with Celtics now tying up the series at one a-piece. After the game, Charles Barkley tried giving an insight into Harden’s mind.
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Starting Game 2, newly crowned MVP Joel Embiid had a great game defensively. While he only scored 15 points in 25 minutes, Embiid led a block party, swatting 5 shots. Despite his return, the Celtics led an incredible charge tonight and beat the visitors 121-87.
Even though the result was what he’d predicted, Charles Barkley did not like what he saw, especially from James Harden.
Charles Barkley believes James Harden has a ‘mental block’ with Joel Embiid on the floor
The Philadelphia 76ers were totally outclassed today by the Boston Celtics. The Sixers, who beat the Cs on the 3-point line in Game 1, could only get 6 3s to fall tonight. James Harden, who was 17 of 30 from the field in Game 1, making 7 of 14 of his 3s en route his 45-point performance, was only 2 of 14 from the field tonight, going 0 of 6 from the 3-point line. He finished the night with just 12 points.
Charles Barkley was quite upset with the performance and talked about it after the game, while the crew discussed the highlights. Chuck did not like that Joel Embiid was on the floor, and he listed his reasons for the same.
“James[Harden] plays different when he[Joel Embiid] is out there. In my opinion, he’s got a mental block. He’s not nearly as aggressive. That was night and day, from Game 1 to Game 2. I think it hurts Maxey, I think it hurts Tobias Harris. They play at a much more free lance pace when he’s not there.”
Charles Barkley felt like Joel Embiid should have been rested for Game 2 after the Sixers already got Game 1 on the road. This would’ve given Embiid’s knee more time to recover, and he would’ve had a fresher approach in Game 3 at home.
Does Harden have a ‘mental block’ with Joel Embiid on the floor?
One of the only ways to answer the question without asking Harden himself would be to look at the stats. In the regular season, Harden has played 72 games with Embiid and 7 without him. In those 72 games, he averaged 21.0 points, 10.7 assists, and 6.3 rebounds. On the other hand, in the 7 games without Embiid, Harden put up 20.6 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.7 rebounds.
There isn’t much of a difference there. His numbers stay rather similar whether Embiid is on the floor or not, at least during the regular season. However, there was quite a jump during the playoffs.
In the playoffs, Harden played 18 games with the Sixers. 14 with Embiid, and 4 without. In those 14 games, he averaged 17.9 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.6 rebounds. Meanwhile, in the four games without Joel, Harden’s numbers were 24.5 points, 7.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds. Out of those four games, most of the scoring happened in Game 1 against the Celtics. If we take that outlier out, the numbers would’ve stayed nearly the same.
While the numbers don’t support what Chuck said, Harden, himself had said that he ‘hunts’ for shots when Embiid is not on the floor. I guess the Sixers need to assert and tell the Beard that it’s okay to shoot his own shots as well, even when Embiid is on the floor.
