Miami Heat Playoffs: James Harden’s Worst Nightmares Soon Come

In just five games, the Miami Heat reigned supreme after eliminating the Atlanta Hawks. Stifling both their first-round opponent and most especially Trae Young, Miami has created an early and loud statement to open the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

And if that demonstration wasn’t enough to prove themselves as legitimate title contenders, the Heat will have another opportunity to do so as they host their second-round opponent, the Philadelphia 76ers, on Monday. 

The Eastern Conference’s number one seed will match up against a Sixers team who’ll be without Joel Embiid (orbital fracture) for Game One and quite possibly, for an indefinite amount of time.

But even without Embiid, Philadelphia’s premier big man and a top candidate for this year’s Most Valuable Player award, the Heat shouldn’t underestimate another All-NBA talent who is still available.

Meaning, it could all center back on the on-court presence of James Harden. Can he lead them to victory for as long as he is without his star teammate?

Who knows, but let’s look at his play a bit closer.

Miami Heat Playoffs: James Harden’s Worst Nightmares Soon Come

As they defeated the Toronto Raptors in six games, Harden was the Sixers’ second-leading scorer behind Embiid. Nonetheless, he averaged just 13 shot attempts on 58 percent True Shooting, which accounts for his lowest since the 2018-19 postseason.

Throughout the first round, it was noticeable that the ten-time All-Star played tentatively within the 76ers offense. Albeit, his passive play did get him to 10.2 assists per game, which is statistically his highest assist average in his 12 postseason appearances.

Considering the hamstring injury that’s been reported on heavily, it has, indeed, forced Harden to display less assertiveness. Now and without Embiid, his star running-mate that he joined in late February after he was traded from Brooklyn, it’s clear that James will need to endure any current ailments and shoulder much of the Sixers’ offense.

However, this couldn’t have come against a worse opponent than the Miami Heat.

Miami, a team that has exuded confidence (and rightfully so) after holding the NBA’s sixth-highest scoring team in Atlanta to just 102.3 points and just under 45 percent shooting in the first round, could put Philadelphia in the exact same situation.

Miami Heat Playoffs: James Harden’s Should Anticipate A Lot Of Long Nights

Harden should anticipate his next playoff opponent as one of his most difficult challenges he’s seen and that can be argued, even, with Embiid on the floor. A major reason is that this now allows Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra, and his elite switching style of defense to key in on the former 2017-18 Most Valuable Player, both physically and mentally.

Bam Adebayo, Miami’s frontline anchor, will share the greatest benefit of Embiid’s absence. Now taking away the rolling and post threat of the Sixers’ big-man, there’s now leeway granted for Bam to switch onto Harden without having to concern himself on the interior.

This method goes the same for P.J. Tucker, who has recently shared minutes as a Small-Ball Five against Atlanta. Not only will this series be difficult for Harden from a defensive perspective, but it’ll most certainly be difficult on the offensive end too.

For the entire year, the Heat have been a team that’s made a living off of exploiting mismatches and with Harden in the lineup, the Sixers will be held to a disadvantage.

Over the last several years, Harden has been heavily criticized as a defender and he won’t see many breaks against Miami. Let’s look at that a bit closer though.

Miami Heat Playoffs: James Harden Will Have To Guard In This Series Too

Now slated to stand toe-to-toe with Jimmy Butler, who went on a complete two-way barrage against Atlanta by taking advantage of weaker defenders in isolation, you could expect Harden to be another likely target.

• While Harden holds a winning record (10-6) and a higher scoring average, Butler has outpaced Harden in Field-Goal Percentage, Steals and fewer Turnovers in their 16 career head-to-head games.

As this, once again, goes back to Butler, who came away with several punctual steals in the first round, another key area where Miami will be able to focus on Harden is in the passing lanes. As Harden’s turnovers and usage have declined in recent years, Philadelphia will need to rely on him to direct traffic.

To have Butler, an off-ball threat who can negate passes and create transition opportunities, makes life for a dominant ball-handler, a la Harden, worse by a substantial amount.

For Harden to channel his inner superstar who was once able to relentlessly attack defenses from any angle just seems unachievable. There’s just an overwhelming amount of defenders on Miami’s roster and this goes without mentioning the resurgence of Victor Oladipo.

The Sixers will attempt to withstand a Heat team that appears to be more connected than they’ve ever been all year. They should, not only, be able to frustrate Harden offensively but they’re even built to schematically deter him from what he does best—getting to the free-throw line.

With the exception of Harden (and Embiid), the Sixers had just two other players average double-figures in the first round. While Tyrese Maxey did have a 28-point explosion against Miami back in late March, neither he nor Tobias Harris have proven themselves capable of consistently scoring at the highest level, including the postseason.

In any playoff series, there will always be further adjustments to make. It’s not quite often for a team to completely dismantle their opponent for four consecutive games.

But if they can diminish Harden’s play, Miami could very well be headed in that direction. As proven against Atlanta, they’re nothing short of a gaudy defensive team and it’s been demonstrated for several months.

An absolute penitentiary has been built on Biscayne Boulevard and if the Sixers have any desire to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, they’ll need Harden to find ways to become a version of him that appears long gone. The Heat will be in full anticipation of it though, either way.