Star James Harden, Sixers downplay upcoming home matchup with Nets
PHILADELPHIA — Ever since the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets swapped stars on Feb. 10, sending Ben Simmons to the Nets and James Harden to the Sixers, everyone has had March 10 circled on the calendar.
The significance of that date? It is the teams’ first matchup since the big trade, and it marks the first game back in Philadelphia for Simmons where he is expected to be in the building for the first time since Game 7 back on June 20, 2021.
It is also, obviously, the first time Harden will see his former Nets teammates. Harden did not have a great exit from Brooklyn, but he isn’t making a big deal out of facing his former Nets teammates.
“No. I’m not nervous,” he deadpanned. “It’s basketball. I put the work in to go out there and just play my game and live with the results. Honestly, every game is a big game for us. We’re fairly new. We got championship aspirations so every game is a learning process for us no matter who we’re playing.”
Still, one has to believe that Harden would be anxious to face his former team.
“No,” he added. “I’m here, what do you want me to do?”
Harden and Joel Embiid look to lead Philadelphia to a needed win over the Nets. The Sixers trail the season series with Brooklyn 2-1, so that is all the motivation Embiid needs.
“Just a regular matchup,” Embiid said. “The season series is 2-1, so we need to win this game. It’s nothing, it’s a regular matchup for me, a regular-season game, so we’ve just got to come in with the same mindset that we’ve had and have better starts than we’ve been having lately. Focus on defense. They’ve got a lot of great players and offensively, just do what we did tonight (Monday).”
The Sixers battled the Chicago Bulls on Monday and earned a 121-106 win at home. It wasn’t a pretty game; the Sixers had to scratch and claw to come away with the win.
Now, they need to prepare for Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets.
“Obviously, we’ll get our rest, and Thursday, Brooklyn’s gonna be a tough challenge,” Harden added. “No different than tonight’s Chicago Bulls team.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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