76ers star Joel Embiid said he believes it’s on coach Doc Rivers to bring out a more “aggressive” side in James Harden after the guard attempted 11 shots in Philadelphia’s 103-88 Game 5 loss to the Raptors on Monday.
“I’ve been saying all season since he got here, he needs to be aggressive and he needs to be himself,” Embiid said of Harden, who recorded 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 40 minutes of action.
“That’s not really my job, that’s probably on coach to talk to him and tell him to take more shots.”
The Sixers acquired Harden in a blockbuster deal, sending Ben Simmons to the Nets at the trade deadline in February.
Harden, who’s averaging 18 points on 37-percent shooting in this series, hasn’t been his explosive self since arriving in Philadelphia. On Monday, he missed six of eight shots through three quarters.
“But we all need to be better offensively,” said Embiid, who’s playing through a torn thumb ligament that will require surgery in the offseason. He said he injured his thumb in the first half of Wednesday’s Game 3.
“We missed a bunch of wide-open shots, at times I just felt like we just invited, when I was getting doubled, we were not aggressive attacking the ball. We just kept moving the ball around the perimeter, and that gave them time to recover, and that’s why we were not able to get anything out of it. So, if that’s what they want to keep doing, we’ve got to take advantage of it.”
It was an all-around poor effort by the Sixers, who were booed off the court in Monday’s Game 5 loss. After going up 3-0 in their first-round series, the Sixers lost two straight to the Raptors. The series shifts back to Toronto for Game 6 on Thursday and the pressure is fully on Rivers’ squad.
They committed 10 turnovers in the first half alone on Monday and failed to find a rhythm on offense, missing open shots throughout the game. Matisse Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey combined for 12 points.
“They were the tougher team all night, they were more physical all night,” Rivers said. “I don’t think it was the second quarter. I thought it was throughout the game.”
Philadelphia will play Game 6 without Thybulle, who sat out Games 3 and 4, as he is unable to travel to Canada because he is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
