James Harden pulled a Ben Simmons in Game 3 defeat

James Harden Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

James Harden pulled a Ben Simmons during Game 3 loss

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 5/5/23

James Harden took a page out of the Ben Simmons playbook for Game 3 against the Boston Celtics on Friday night. And that is not a good thing.

Harden was the biggest reason why the Philadelphia 76ers won Game 1 of their semifinal series on Monday, as the 33-year-old guard carried his team to victory by scoring 45 points. But after the big Game 1, Harden has completely tanked.

He went just 2-for-14 shooting in a blowout Game 2 loss and in Game 3 at home on Friday, it was more of the same.

During Game 3, Harden went just 3-for-14 with 16 points, though he did dish out 11 assists. He was like Simmons in the sense that he seemed to avoid shooting the ball despite having good looks.

Here was one opportunity he had in the third quarter that he passed up, leaving ESPN’s announcers stunned:

Doris Burke and Mark Jones can't believe how bad James Harden looks in Game 3. pic.twitter.com/6zGKwf38m5

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 6, 2023

And this was in the fourth quarter:

pic.twitter.com/leiMOuzjaJ

— highlight hell (@HoopyHoops) May 6, 2023

ESPN’s Michael Wilbon roasted Harden at halftime, too, apparently forgetting about some of the poor playoff stretches Harden went through in Houston.

"I don't think I've ever seen James Harden look this bad in a playoff game… He's like afraid to take shots."

Michael Wilbon sounded OFF on Harden's first half performance in Game 3 of Sixers-Celtics pic.twitter.com/44cpebSckx https://t.co/xcTXWddp55

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 6, 2023

That was the exact type of behavior Simmons exhibited during his erosion of confidence at the end of his Sixers tenure.

There is one variable that has probably resulted in a change in mentality for Harden since the series began. In Game 1, Joel Embiid was not playing and Harden decided he would need to act as a scorer and play hero. But when Embiid played, Harden took on more of a facilitator role, which seemed to mess with his confidence and lead him to pass up shots.

The transition from playing with Embiid and without Embiid seems to be a very difficult one for Harden. As for the end result on Friday, Harden's 76ers lost Game 3 by a 114-102 score to fall behind 2-1 in the series.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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