"We got our a** kicked" - James Harden admits Philadelphia 76ers' blowout loss to Brooklyn Nets is a reality check
James Harden did not know what it meant to lose in a Philadelphia 76ers jersey. Then Thursday happened and the visiting Brooklyn Nets came up with a dominant win to hand Harden his first loss since being traded to Philadelphia. The Nets, Harden's former team, came away on March 10 with a 29-point (129-100) victory in a much-hyped game that saw very little fight put up by the 76ers in front of their home fans.
KD & Kyrie were locked in from tip-off, scoring 11 points a piece in the 1st quarter to lead the @BrooklynNets to the wire-to-wire victory! #NetsWorld
Kevin Durant: 25 PTS, 14 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL
Kyrie Irving: 22 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST, 2 BLK, 5 3PM https://t.co/Y9ln3lPl9E
Speaking after the game in which the Nets led by 21 points (72-51) at the half and 32 points (102-70) after three quarters, Harden said that the result was a reality check after his initial honeymoon period with the 76ers. Harden said:
"We got our a** kicked. Since I've been here, everything has been sweet. We've been winning games. And so tonight was good for us. We get an opportunity to come down to reality, watch film and just continue to get better and making sure we hit the right strides."
"We got our ass kicked. Since I've been here everything has been sweet, tonight was good for us to come down to reality"
- James Harden https://t.co/xqrklikBlx
James Harden has worst game since joining Philadelphia 76ers
While James Harden's former teammates Kevin Durant (25 points and 14 rebounds) and Kyrie Irving (22 points and five assists) put up solid numbers for the Nets, Harden himself had an underwhelming game. The 10-time All-Star had 11 points on 3-of-17 shooting (17.6%) from the field to go with four turnovers. This is Harden's lowest scoring game since he joined the 76ers. Incidentally, Harden finished 0-for-10 from within the three-point line against the Nets. This makes him the second player after Russell Westbrook this season to go 0-for-10 on two-pointers in a single game.
James Harden finished 0-for-10 on 2-pointers against the Nets.
He is the 2nd player this season to go 0-for-10 on 2-pointers in a single game.
The other player is Russell Westbrook (Nov. 6 vs Trail Blazers). https://t.co/PwAWISrIkL
James Harden did not offer any excuses for his poor game, though. He told the media:
"Just missed shots. There's no excuses. I got to be better individually. Some turnovers where just careless. Individually, I got to be better, then as a team I will watch film to see where can we be better. We'll just try to continue to improve like this is only our sixth game together as a unit. I'm still trying to figure things out."
The Philadelphia 76ers dropped to a 40-25 record after the loss to Brooklyn. It was their second defeat in three games. The 76ers and Harden will now head to Orlando to play their next game on Sunday. The 76ers are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference standings. They are one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks (42-25) and half a game ahead of the fourth-placed Chicago Bulls (40-26).