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“Joel Embiid and James Harden on the verge of breaking decades old NBA record”: The Sixers duo might end up being the first pair since 1982 to win scoring and assists title with same franchise

Akash Murty
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"Joel Embiid and James Harden on the verge of breaking a decades old NBA record": The Sixers duo might end up being the first pair since 1982 to win scoring and assists title with same franchise

Joel Embiid and James Harden might end the season as point leader and assist leader which will make them the first duo in 30 years to do so while playing for the same franchise.

Joel Embiid and James Harden are already the best duo in the NBA for a simple eye test. Though the sample size is small as they have just played 5 games together, it is enough to determine that it’ll work better for Joel than it did with Ben Simmons.

The Cameroonian big man is enjoying arguably the easiest if not the best basketball of his life since the Beard came in from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Simmons last month.

In the 5 games they played together, they have won all five, and three of those were against the teams that are seeded 6th or better in each conference.

Also read: “Ben Simmons, why spit in the face of Sixers fans, shoot the ball”: Sixers fans in Philadelphia heckle the former Sixers guard as he makes his way to the Wells Fargo Center

While doing so, Embiid is averaging 32.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and has a plus-minus average of ‘+15.8’. And Harden is averaging over 24 points, 12.4 dishes, 7.6 boards, and a +16 plus-minus.

The duo is having a chance of breaking an incredible 30-year-old NBA record if they keep what they are on to.

Joel Embiid and James Harden can create history

While Joel Embiid currently leads the league on points per game (29.7), James Harden is in the second position on the NBA assists leaderboard, just behind his former teammate Chris Paul on with 10.4 dimes per game.

With CP3 out for probably the rest of the regular season, Harden has a chance to overtake the “Point God”, and if he does so successfully, the Sixers’ duo will be the first one since the 1981-82 season to do so. Credits: NBA Redditor.

They will be breaking George Gervin’s (32.3 PPG) and Johnny Moore’s (9.6 APG) record for the scoring and assists title. The duo was then playing for the San Antonio Spurs, helping their team to finish with the 3rd best record in the West (48-34). Sixers are 40-24 as of now.

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While the Sixers’ duo might lead their team to a better finish than those Spurs, it’s the playoffs where they would want to make a championship run having the top scorer and assist provider (if Harden does it) of the league.

Spurs had finished losing the Western Conference finals, but Embiid and Co would want to win it all as the 5-time All-Star has already suffered a couple of heartbreaks in the playoffs.

About the author

Akash Murty

Akash Murty

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An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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