“Harden hasn’t really seemed like the Robin to Embiid’s Batman” - Jamie Apody says the James Harden and Philadelphia ‘love-fest’ has faded
James Harden joining the Philadelphia 76ers was supposed to help Joel Embiid elevate the team to an NBA championship, but the dynamic duo is not delivering on expectations entering the playoffs.
The Philadelphia 76ers brought James Harden to the team to win the championship alongside Joel Embiid, which means the team's expectations this season are as high as possible.
With the expectations of Harden and Embiid being so high, Harden's disappointing end to the regular season as head coach Doc Rivers and 76ers' fans are concerned about the postseason.
Philadelphia Sports Anchor/Reporter Jamie Apody joined NBA Today to voice the feelings about James Harden that exist in the 76ers fanbase.
"You know, I think a lot of the hype has kinda gone away. You're right, that day, it was like magic around here. People couldn't believe it. It was championship or bust. I mean, you have James Harden, one of the 75 best players in NBA history, to pair with Joel Embiid, this is a gimme, right? The first few games, they were magic. But, you know, the love fest has faded a little bit, especially because, recently, Harden hasn't really seemed like the Robin to Embiid's Batman."
The duo of Harden and Joel Embiid brought hope to the city of Philadelphia because they bought into the magic they could bring to the court. The lovefest started to die out because fans lost faith in Harden's ability to help Embiid.
James Harden and Joel Embiid lead the Philadelphia 76ers against the Toronto Raptors again.
James Harden and Joel Embiid will lead the Philadelphia 76ers against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. The 76ers lost to the Raptors in a 119-114 final on April 7th, so Harden and Embiid will need to regroup to win.
The last performance has Jamie Apody concerned about what Harden and Embiid will do in their rematch against the Raptors.
"Especially, you look at the series against the Raptors, he has been coming up small in some of these games, and near the end of games, when they're close games. They played each other last week, and Harden only had 13 points. You know what, he shot 25% from the field. He can't come up that way in the playoffs here. I think people are starting to get a little skeptical of this dynamic duo."
Toronto has a history of playing the 76ers incredibly tough in the regular season, but their playoff history against one another is also impressive.
For the third time in franchise history, the Raptors will face the 76ers in the playoffs. Those first 2 series both went 7 games and came down to 1 last-second shot. So, yeah, this could be fun.
Game 1 on Saturday from Philly. Time and schedule TBA. https://t.co/DuWAOO2qu2
Given the history between the 76ers and Raptors, Harden will need to be at his best to help Embiid. If the 76ers fail to beat the Raptors in the playoffs, the fans will treat him as the scapegoat.