Harden pleased with mini-training camp, says he's ‘ready to hoop' vs. Raptors

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Perhaps James Harden’s stance said all that was necessary.

With 21 games under his belt as a Sixer and two days before Game 1 of the team’s first-round playoff meeting with the Raptors, Harden leaned well back in his chair —  microphones and cameras in front of him, reporters on all sides — and waited to see what he’d be asked.

He heard the word “pressure” in one of the questions and shook his head.

“Pressure? No. I feel good,” Harden said Thursday afternoon after practice. “I’m ready to hoop. There’s nothing to to it.”

Harden has 137 games of playoff experience. He’s seeking his first NBA Finals appearance since he was a 22-year-old sixth man for a Thunder team that lost to the Heat’s “Big 3” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Harden then earned renown as an efficient, iso-scoring demon with the Rockets. Joel Embiid, fresh off his first career scoring title, sounds like he wants Harden to show that aspect of his game more against the Raptors.

“I tell him to be himself,” Embiid said. “He’s been doing a great job of being a playmaker, but we need him to be aggressive and really score the ball. Especially against Toronto, the way they guard me, we’re going to need everybody. We need Tyrese (Maxey) to be aggressive with all the attention that’s going to be on me and James … other guys, they’ve got to make plays. 

“But he just has to be himself, not worry about people talking about pressure or whatever happened in the past. You look back at what he’s accomplished and what he’s done, he had to play against a freaking dynasty. It would’ve been hard for anybody to beat those Golden State teams, so bad timing. But I’m sure he’s going to be fine.”

In Harden’s final playoff game with the Nets, he played the full 53 minutes of a second-round, Game 7 loss in overtime to the eventual champion Bucks on a hurt right hamstring. Brooklyn had listed the injury as “hamstring tightness,” but Harden told reporters after the game it was a Grade 2 strain.

After being traded to the Sixers in February, Harden ramped up to a return from left hamstring tightness. He’s noted several times over the last couple of weeks that he has no present hamstring issues. 

“No, it’s good,” Harden said. “I’ve actually been doing some sprints and some hamstring work this week, so it’s been a really good week for me to be able to prepare myself for this first round.”

“Spacing” has been a go-to word lately for Harden and the Sixers. Over this mini-training camp, the team has worked on consistently being in the right spots around their All-Stars. Getting there quicker has been also been a point of emphasis. 

While Toronto is known for its aggressive, relentless defensive style, more minutes alongside Danny Green might help Harden offensively. With Matisse Thybulle ineligible to play in Canada because he’s not fully vaccinated, Harden looks set to play a larger share of minutes next to Green, a veteran shooter who knows all about complementing stars.

Harden was positive about the Sixers’ recent progress at practice.

“It’s been really helpful, honestly — our execution and different situations, in-game situations that I was a little uncertain about are made clear now,” he said. “But it’s for all of us ... our feel on our spacing and different things like that. Offensively and defensively, making sure we’re on the same page. And then just details — knowing what Toronto likes to do and knowing how we can execute.”

Entering his second playoff matchup against the Raptors, Embiid doesn’t expect any fundamental surprises. 

“The way they defend me has never changed,” he said. “They just play recklessly, sending three guys at me as soon as the ball is in the air. That made me better, honestly, over the years — just playing against them and watching them. That definitely made me a better playmaker, so I enjoy playing them. But there’s still a lot of ways I can attack them. … I can just get deep position on them, use my size and my weight, and try to take advantage of that.

“I think I know what I have to do. I’ve just got to execute.”

In that respect, Harden seems on the page. A little over two months after the massive trade that made him Embiid’s teammate, it’s almost time to hoop. 

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