James Harden hasn’t proven himself yet with the Sixers, but there are signs of promise

CLEVELAND — There are lingering questions concerning how impactful James Harden will continue to be for the 76ers.

Sure, the perennial All-NBA guard was on fire in the first three games after being acquired in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 10. But those games came against the defenseless Minnesota Timberwolves and woeful New York Knicks.

There are corners of the basketball world that believe Harden has lost a step and doubt that he can remain the elite level difference-maker needed to win a title.

Even though he’s had several poor shooting performances, Harden has been a welcome addition in Philly.

The point guard is averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 assists, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals through nine games. In perhaps the most important stat, the Sixers are 7-2 during his tenure.

“I think things are going pretty well other than two bad losses,” Harden said.

» READ MORE: Best and worst from Sixers-Cavs: Joel Embiid’s birthday explosion, Shake Milton’s struggles and more

But Harden realizes he needs to find ways to be more aggressive on the offensive end.

“My playmaking is always going to be there,” he said, “but just finding ways to get more involved in the game. Just finding rhythm shots, easier shots for me because that creates opportunities for my teammates. So having talked to Joel [Embiid] and [coach] Doc [Rivers], just trying to find the best positioning to create opportunities for myself and my teammates.

“So it’s going to come. I’ve just got to continue to be aggressive.”

Harden was aggressive when the Sixers (42-26) really needed him to be in Wednesday’s 118-114 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at ROCKET Mortgage FieldHouse.

Harden finished with 21 points on 5-for-12 shooting and made 10 of 12 free throws to go with 11 assists and two steals, playing his best basketball late with the game on the line.

Harden gave the Sixers a 105-104 lead with 3 minutes, 20 seconds remaining on a driving layup. Then on the next possession, he dished to Embiid in the paint. The MVP candidate was fouled and made a pair of free throws to put the Sixers up, 107-104.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid needs to rest during the stretch run — but the Sixers can’t survive without him

Then Harden hit a pair of foul shots with 16.8 seconds left to give his squad a 114-110 cushion. He added two more foul shots 2.8 seconds later to make it a 116-112 game. Nine of his points came in the fourth quarter. Before then, he mainly deferred to teammates.

“It’s winning time at that point,” Harden said. “I just want to get downhill whether it’s a score or get [teammates] a basket. Whatever the case may be, at the point it’s just read what the defense gives me. But the fourth quarter is a time to be a little bit more aggressive as far as whatever the defense gives me, and tonight was one of those nights.”

Like in his first eight appearances, the 10-time All-Star was the vocal and pass-first leader of the team. Harden knew that Embiid (35 points), Tyrese Maxey (25), and Tobias Harris (19) were having success and wanted to feed them the ball. Despite being a three-time scoring champion, that’s been his approach since joining the team.

“He’s a good teammate,” Rivers said. “Guys like him. And most of the time, guys like anyone who passes, to be honest. I think guys are already finding ways — ‘I can score off this cut. I can do things like this.’ It’s still a learning process. But you ingratiate yourself to your teammates really quickly when you start passing to them.”

But even though Harden is second in the league in assists per game, his passing ability was a surprise to the Sixers. They knew he could pass. They just didn’t know to what level.

“You just don’t know a guy until you coach a guy,” Rivers said. “Just seeing him in execution and running stuff, really communicating with his teammates where to be, it’s been really good.”

Now, that’s not to say that Harden hasn’t had a few clunkers as a member of the Sixers.

He struggled through 3-for-17 shooting against the Nets on March 10 in his first matchup against his former teammates. Harden followed that up with a 5-for-19 shooting effort against the Orlando Magic on Sunday. Then he shot 2-for-7 in the first half of Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets before shooting 4-for-4 after intermission. And on Wednesday, he made just 1 of 6 three-point attempts.

“That’s just nine games,” Harden said of his time as a Sixer. “I’m just getting back into the groove.”

Before making his Sixers debut on Feb. 25, Harden had been sidelined with left hamstring tightness since scoring four points as a member of the Nets on Feb. 2.

And while Harden has also been drawing a lot of double teams, he still wants to change his approach on offense.

“I got off the ball and tried to make the right play,” he said. “I just take what the defense gives me, but mostly I have to be more aggressive.”