James Harden’s 3-pointers Spoil His Second Consecutive 30-point Night, While Twitter Calls Him Michael Jordan of Mid-range

James Harden is playing at an elite level but something is always missing from his game, in the game against Bucks it was his 3-pointers.

The Philadelphia 76ers have a nightmarish start to their 2022-23 NBA campaign. After the 90-88 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, they are 0-2 after the consecutive defeats.

While their MVP Joel Embiid had a decent game against the Celtics in their last outing, he wasn’t even remotely good in their latest one, shooting 6/21 off the field and adding just 15 points to his team’s total.

“The Beard” though, looks like the most important player in Philly right now. After having a 35p/8r/7a night in TD Garden, Harden came home and had a complete game scoring over 35% of his team’s total points.

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But his 3-pointers turned out to be the deciding factor of the game. Had he scored two out of his seven attempts in the game, his team would’ve come out victorious.

James Harden goes wild from mid-range but his 3-point misses proved costly

Harden went 1/7 from the 3-point line on the night he was shooting 13/24 from the field and 4/4 from the free-throw line.

So, he was 12/17 otherwise, which is good news for the Sixers because the man has discovered his mid-range game. Even the internet is happy about the same.

But if he was anywhere close to his 55% shooting against the Celtics, his team would have prevailed and made a statement, defeating Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co without Embiid performing at his best.

What else could Harden do to help the Sixers win?

Both of Harden’s 30-point games were crucial for not only getting the man in his groove but also for his team to stay close in those contests where they could have been easily blown away by the opponents.

While Joel had 0 points in the entire second half of the game, the 2018 MVP had 22 points in the second half alone with 10 in the final quarter which kept Sixers in the game.

Harden had a complete game in the loss with 31 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and a block, hitting his mid-range shots like he was possessed by Michael Jordan himself.

What he could have done is stop his 3-point attempts when he was already 1/5 beyond the perimeter and was swishing from inside the 3-point line.

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But most of all – he could use a lot of help from Embiid, on both ends of the floor. When Harden is getting better defensively and is giving his all on both ends, Joel shouldn’t just be looking to score.