With the season on the line, Sixers fans expected a legendary performance from James Harden who once again failed to deliver
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After acquiring James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets this season, the Philadelphia 76ers were expected to go to the NBA Finals if not win the championship.
Unfortunately, the Sixers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in 6 games. The number one seed, the Miami Heat knocked them out, and Harden was at the center of things once again.
After having a subpar series against the Toronto Raptors in the first round, Harden was expected to up his game if they were to get past the Heat but clearly, that wasn’t the case.
Harden averaged just about 18 points per game against the Heat and was far from being the scorer he was during his Houston Rockets days. He struggled mightily against an aggressive Heat defense and most of the time refused to even shoot the basketball.
With their best player Joel Embiid playing through multiple injuries and giving it everything he had, the onus was on Harden to take on a bigger offensive role. However, just like what we’ve seen in the past, Harden failed to deliver on the biggest stage when it mattered the most.
As expected, NBA Twitter went after James Harden for his lackluster performance
Harden was brutally trolled on social media with some fans even questioning why the Sixers traded for him.
The Sixers moved heaven and earth to acquire James Harden because Ben Simmons wouldn’t shoot the ball with the season on the line, only for Harden not to shoot the ball with the season on the line…cold world, man
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) May 13, 2022
James Harden with 7 of his 12 playoff games this year scoring below 20 points. Michael Jordan only scored below 20 points in 6 of his 179 postseason games. DON’T EVER mention James Harden as a scorer in the same sentence with Jordan again!
— Wilson Sy (@WilsonSy93) May 13, 2022
Not trading for James Harden was a top-5 decision in Heat franchise history, as we said at the time.
— Five Reasons Sports (@5ReasonsSports) May 13, 2022
James Harden is 32 going on 42. Even worse, he just doesn’t CARE. He’s made tons of $$$ and knows somebody will pay him tons more. He’s got his MVP. He’s Top 75. Championships never were his thing. Hides under playoff pressure. Supremely skilled nightmare.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 13, 2022
Trading Ben Simmons for James Harden because you wanted someone who would actually shoot the ball just for him to attempt 8 shots in a must win game is the most unfortunate thing I’ve seen for Sixers Fans. I’d be so sick. At least Ben rebounded and Played Defense man 😭.
— HTB ♨️ (@HenryTheBlasian) May 13, 2022
Is ‘The Process’ coming to an end? Will Doc Rivers be fired? Will Harden ever get back to being the dynamic scorer he once was?
Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers head into the off-season with a lot of uncertainty.
