76ers Beat Knicks to Win Third Straight Game with James Harden

On February 10th, the Philadelphia 76ers went all in to be one of the favorites to win the NBA title. That day, the Sixers traded Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first round draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden and Paul Millsap. Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP when he was with the Houston Rockets, spent less than two years in Brooklyn and was ready to move on after the Nets lost in the Eastern Conference semi finals to Milwaukee last year and are struggling to make the playoffs this year.

Philadelphia gave up a lot to get Harden, but in the early going, the move is paying dividends. Due to a lingering injury, Harden didn’t make his 76ers debut until February 25th at Minnesota, where he scored 27 points and had 12 assists. In his next game at New York on February 27th, Harden had a triple double with 29 points, 16 assists, and 10 rebounds. In his home debut on March 2nd, also against New York, he scored 26 points. All three games were Philadelphia victories. Here’s some highlights of his home debut:

After games of March 3rd, the Sixers (38-23) were in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, 2 ½ games behind conference leader Miami. The race in the East is tight, with first and seventh places separated by just seven games. Philadelphia hosts Cleveland on March 4th, and will be at Miami on March 5th.