Big second half powers Sixers to 123-108 victory over Knicks in James Harden’s home debut | Analysis

James Harden delivered the full-court pass to Matisse Thybulle for the layup, then threw both arms into the air as if he were a football referee signaling for a touchdown.

That highlight-worthy play capped the 76ers’ second-half surge to top the New York Knicks, 123-108, in a celebratory home debut for Harden Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

“The love, the fans, it felt like home,” Harden said. “… You look around and [you hear] just, ‘We love you, James!’ That right there makes me go out there and play harder. I just want to do whatever it takes to get the win.”

For the bulk of the first half, it appeared the Knicks might spoil the buzz inside the Wells Fargo Center. New York built a 16-point lead, fueled by scoring 16 points off eight turnovers by a Sixers offense that did not initially flow nearly as sharply as in its first two games with Harden.

But the Sixers (38-23) closed the second quarter on an 8-2 run, including a rebound and fast-break bucket by Tobias Harris right before the buzzer, and then outscored the Knicks 38-19 in the decisive third quarter to seize the advantage for good.

» READ MORE: James Harden and Joel Embiid have to be the modern Doc and Moses. The Sixers’ title hopes depend on it. | Mike Sielski

The Sixers took their first lead at 74-73 when Harden hit two free throws as “Let’s go Harden!” chants rained down at the 5-minute, 56-second mark of the third quarter. Harden then pushed that advantage to 13 points with a finish through contact and an and-1 free throw with less than a minute to play in the period.

That advantage grew to a game-high 15 points when Tyrese Maxey hit two free throws with less than eight minutes to play.

“Our first half, we were a little flat,” Harden said. “Second half, we came out with some energy. ... [The] beginning of the quarter, [we were] trying to push the ball, trying to create some opportunities.”

Harden (25 points, nine rebounds, nine assists) was introduced first in the starting lineup, drawing a raucous roar from a jam-packed crowd. And he fittingly paced the Sixers while the rest of the offense sputtered in the first half, primarily by getting to the bucket. He scored 19 points before the break on 7-of-11 shooting, and added five rebounds and three assists.

The Sixers, who are 3-0 with Harden and have won six out of their last seven games, next play a challenging home-road back-to-back Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Saturday at the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat.

Harden, Maxey, and MVP contender Joel Embiid created a lethal scoring trio in their first two games together. It took a half Wednesday for all three to find rhythm.

Maxey scored 21 of his 25 points after the break, and added four rebounds and three assists. He made just two of his first five shots in the first 24 minutes, but, after Harden approached him in the halftime locker room and “asked me if I was gonna play today,” Maxey said, he exploded for 11 points in the third quarter to help the Sixers build a double-digit lead.

He drained a corner three-pointer with about eight minutes to play to cut the Knicks’ lead to 70-69. He put a wicked spin move on former Kentucky teammate Immanuel Quickley to draw a foul and made the free throws to push the Sixers’ lead to 80-75. Then he sank a step-back three-pointer to extend that advantage to 87-77 with less than two minutes left in the quarter.

In the fourth, Maxey nailed a three-pointer and then hit two free throws to put the Sixers up 107-92 with less than eight minutes to play, and hit another shot from beyond the arc to make the score 112-99 with 3:34 remaining that felt like the game-clincher.

“When he has an opportunity, he needs to be aggressive,” Harden said of Maxey. " ... In that second half, he played like we all need him to play and he knows how to play.”

It even took Embiid (27 points, 12 rebounds) nearly a half to get rolling. He took only two shots in the first quarter, but did manufacture five points on six free-throw attempts. But he upped his aggressiveness after returning in the second quarter.

He hit an off-balance jumper on which he believed he was fouled, and received a technical foul for arguing with the officials after getting whistled for a foul inside on Mitchell Robinson. Late in the second, he went coast-to-coast with the ball off a rebound, first finishing at the rim and then drawing a foul. He then scored 10 points in the third quarter to help him achieve his 27th game this season with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

In the third quarter’s opening minute, Embiid flipped the ball over his head through contact and hit the and-1 free throw, then buried a three-pointer to cut the Knicks’ lead to 62-61 and force a timeout.

After struggling from the floor in his first two games with Harden, Harris finished with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added seven rebounds. He twice misfired on third-quarter attempts that would have given the Sixers their first lead of the game. But he collected seven quick points early in the fourth, including a three-pointer that put the Sixers ahead 95-87 with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Coach Doc Rivers said following Tuesday’s practice and before Wednesday’s game that Willie Cauley-Stein, who signed a 10-day contract last week, would eventually get a chance at meaningful minutes. But that did not happen against the Knicks.

Veteran Paul Millsap was again Embiid’s backup, finishing with zero points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.

He started his first shift poorly. He committed a turnover in the first minute of the second quarter, which led to an RJ Barrett finish through contact to put the Knicks up 36-25. On the Sixers’ ensuing possession, Millsap committed an offensive foul. Then, Cam Reddish blew by Millsap to extend New York’s advantage to 40-25. Millsap’s highlight of the night was a block on Obi Toppin about a minute later.

“He’s played three games and knows very little of what we’re doing,” Rivers said of Millsap. “He has a pretty high basketball IQ [and] does some pretty good things. We need him to be a better roller, I guess, which is something he hasn’t done [while primarily playing power forward]. ... I’m not that concerned by it right now.”

» READ MORE: Paul Millsap is happy with the Sixers after a tough Brooklyn stint and blockbuster trade that was ‘meant to be’

That was all part of a rough first half for the Sixers’ bench, which was outscored 19-9. Six of those nine points came from Shake Milton, including a steal and off-balance finish. Milton then took Furkan Korkmaz’s spot in the rotation, entering with about five minutes to play in the third quarter and finishing with 19 minutes.

That second unit did get a lift after the break from Georges Niang, who hit two key three-pointers.