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James Harden has been playing well for the Philadelphia 76ers since his arrival, but head coach Doc Rivers confesses the Sixers guard is still not yet at his best.
Speaking to reporters during Friday's shootaround ahead of their showdown with the Los Angeles Clippers, Rivers opened up about Harden's conditioning and his level of play after 12 games with the Sixers. The ex-LA head coach shared why the veteran scorer seems to be missing the explosiveness he had when playing with the Houston Rockets before, pinning the blame on the recent hamstring issues that he had.
“He’s still not there,” Rivers said, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But his miles per hour have increased. He’s … almost to the level of Houston as far as his miles per hour. He’s reached his top speed he hasn’t reached in two years.”
To recall, James Harden had several bouts with hamstring injuries during his rather brief time with the Brooklyn Nets. In the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals, he suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain that he even played with just to help the team. More recently last February, before his trade to the Sixers, Harden was sidelined by the Nets because of another hamstring issue.
It was also the reason why Harden missed the first four games after he was sent to Philly.
Doc Rivers, however, is optimistic that Harden will be able to get back to 100 percent sooner rather than later. According to the one-time champion tactician, he sees The Beard getting to his true All-Star and MVP level come playoff time.
“He’s still a work in progress. But [in] three weeks, we really feel at the time, he’ll be there at 100%,” Rivers added.
Harden is averaging 22.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 10.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game for Philly so far. In the contests he played, the Sixers are actually 9-3–proving the major impact he has had on the team.
Hopefully, Rivers is right in his prediction that Harden would be at his best during the playoffs. The Sixers need him to be as efficient and productive as possible, especially since they face tough competition in the Eastern Conference with the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets posing major threats.
