The Philadelphia 76ers moved to 5-0 with both Joel Embiid and James Harden in the lineup with an impressive 121-106 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. Embiid poured in 43 points, while Harden nearly notched a triple-double with 16 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds. Harden also tied Reggie Miller for third-most 3-pointers of all time.
Harden clearly seems to be rejuvenated and is enjoying his new digs, which is a far cry from the end of his Brooklyn Nets tenure. The Beard's Nets stint ended with a whimper, complete with speculation that he had mailed it in and was even playing up an injury so he wouldn't have to play anymore before finally getting traded.
Harden rubbed things in Brooklyn's face after beating the Bulls, making it a point to go out and get filmed running the steps of the Wells Fargo Center during a late-night workout:
Right after the Sixers handled the Bulls, James Harden was spotted back out in the bowl at the Wells Fargo Center running stadium stairs đ pic.twitter.com/5HVSim3E89
â NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 8, 2022
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The Sixers, of course, are playing the Nets in their next game on Thursday, which is sure to be a raucous environment with Ben Simmons returning to Philly. While Simmons won't be playing, he's expected to join the team on the bench.




The new Sixers star making a show of putting in extra work right before this showdown and right after how things ended in Brooklyn is quite the troll move, and it will surely annoy Nets fans who were already annoyed with how things played out with him. It only adds another layer of intrigue to Thursday's game, which will feature a motivated Harden as Philly looks to make a statement.
Naturally, Harden described his late-night sessions rather innocuously:
James Harden says he did some old school conditioning work after the game, running the bleachers at WFC for a little more cardio as he works his way back from the hamstring issue
â Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) March 8, 2022
The Sixers are now up to 40-24 on the season, which is good for second in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Nets are floundering at 32-33. Kevin Durant is back, but Kyrie Irving is still a part-time player and Simmons is still working his way back to the court as he deals with a back issue.