Harden at The Garden | Instant Reaction

We do these after wins. The Sixers are now thirty seven and twenty three after the one twenty five one o nine win on the road against the Knicks, who are twenty five and thirty six. If you are new here, we like to jump into the box score. You also probably heard Lauren say we like to answer your questions, read your comments, where you're listening from, etc. Etc. So do all of those things, send us dms, and send us questions in those dms or comments about the game.

But we usually start with the box score and then we work our way through so we can get into that. Lauren James Harden triple double twenty nine, ten, sixteen and five and Joel Embiid had a game high thirty seven points with a career high twenty three free throws. Made

worth repeating twenty three free throws. It was a good one at the Garden, a setting that of course leads to some of the game's greatest games, and today the Sixers kit got off to a hot start, struggled a little there in the third quarter, but pulled away in the fourth, had a really strong finish in just James Harden's second performance as a seventy sixer. So let's get

through the nitty gritty. Hopefully going through this box score will inspire some questions, so please, please please send them as they pop into your head. Matt Murphy said it. Joel Embiid led the way with thirty seven points, nine rebounds, three assists, four blocks at a steal twenty three for twenty seven from the free throw line. James Harden twenty nine point, ten rebound, sixteen assist triple double, his first triple double as a seventy six er, plus five steals.

He was a perfect ten for ten from the free throw line. Also perfect from the free throw line was Tobias Harris four for four from the free throw line. A slower start, but finished with twelve points, five rebounds, two assists, a block, and arguably one of the most important, if not the most important three pointers in this game to help the Sixers clear the Oh sorry, I heard a weird piece of feedback, Matt. Can you still hear me? Yes? Indeed? Okay,

sorry yes. Tobias Harris with that big three in the fourth quarter to help the Sixers get past the New York Knicks. Tyrese Maxie finished with twenty one points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two deals. Matisse Thyble rounded out the starting five eight points, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Matisse shot four for six from the field. Paul Millsave and George Niang each added six points off the bench.

Matt Murphy, what stood out to you? I want to start by giving credit to Austin who replied to the tweet and said that at the end of the third quarter there was a lab passed by Fournier that hit the rim and Ebid got the ball. It was credited as a steal, but should be a rebound. Please look into and give our king a double double he deserves so right now, and Bade comes up one rebound short of a double double with the thirty seven points, but certainly worth looking back at that one. What stood out

other than potential double double there? I think it has to be the free throw shooting. I mean the Harden triple double. Yeah, but Harden was ten for ten at the line, and then Joel with the twenty three for twenty seven, thirty nine for forty four as a team, that is, thirty nine is the most makes in a single game at the line by any NBA team this year. Forty four ties the most attempted, so eighty nine percent,

with Mbid and Harden leading the way. Going thirty three for thirty seven has to be the primary surface level takeaway, and the two of them in their first two games together fifty two for fifty nine from the free throw line. And of course there's already been some chatter about what it's going to look like to watch teams shoot more

than thirty free throws a game pretty regularly. But Matt, if you're a Sixers fan, I don't think you mind, especially when the guys are shooting as efficiently from the line as they have in these first two games. To me, something that's coming up into questions and we'll dive in there in just a second. Is early chemistry. That's something we talked a little bit about after the win over the Timberwolves, and we'll talk again about when we discuss

this win over the New York Knicks. But early chemistry looking about as good as it could possibly look. Between two, I would like to say two MVPs in Joe el Embiid and James Harden. It's been really cool to watch them learn one another, to watch the rest of the team learn what James Harden is able to do and

how he's able to set them up. That has maybe been the biggest thing that we should discuss over these last few days and these first couple performances from James Harden sixteen assists, shared and did it rather quietly, not necessarily something that people think of immediately when they think of James Harden, or at least over the last few years,

and that should not be the case. He's one of the league's best distributors, second in the league in assists per game this year, and today he showed exactly why again. Twenty nine points, ten rebounds, sixteen assists for the New Sixer and five steals, a sneaky good defensive performance from James Harden today as well. Matt. With that, shall we dive into questions? Can I have the first question? Please? I want you to answer it or give your thoughts.

I want everybody else to give their thoughts. You can click on our icons, send me or Lauren Rosen a DM with your answer or maybe another question. But whether or whether it's a play from the game a celebration, what was your favorite part of this six Ers win? Something I'm genuinely curious about. Everyone is so excited about this team. They're two and oh with James Harden playing, they win at the Garden Garden James Garden Garden party. Harden, all of the plays on words, I'm here for them all.

I love it. But what was everyone's favorite part of the game. I Am going to start us off by saying it was the Tyrese Maxie step back three late in the game. I like the Tyrese Maxi pick. Matt Murphy, I will also go with the Tyrese Maxi moment. To me, it had to be him slapping the floor after receiving that Matisse Thybil assist that afterwards. As we saw Matisse thybal miked up today was unsure how Tyrese was able to get his hands on that pass from Atz on the break, but was able to do so, able to

finish and then hit the floor pretty emphatically. It's been a pleasure to watch Tyrese Maxie, get excited, continue to grow and gel with his teammates. It's been a great week for him on top of a great season for the rising star. So both of us going with big Tyrese moments for our favorites of the game today. I

think that was my runner up selection. I will sort through any messages that come in or tweets and share anyone else's thoughts about their favorite part of today's one twenty five one o nine win for the Sixers against the Knicks, So keep those coming if you'd like, keep other questions and comments coming as well. The Maxi celebration was my runner up selection. It was surpassed by the step back three, Joel's joy surrounding that, Tyrese's general joy

just playing basketball. He is shooting around forty percent from three. That can't be stressed enough. I always say some things can't be talked about enough. That's one of them, in

my opinion. His growth as a shooter. He looks so confident with it, and you have to be ready to shoot the ball when James Harden is dishing out twelve assists, sixteen assists and today Maxie with the twenty one points, Hardened with the twenty nine, ten and sixteen plus the five steals, and embed with the thirty seven points leading the way for the sixers, leading the way for all scorers. But let's dive in if you have a question pulled up on your end, Lauren, for sure, Sal, before we

get too far ahead, Sal agrees with me. Tyrese slapping the floor was the best moment of the game tonight. Aaron says that it was either the celebration between Maxie and Thiable or the one between Harden and Embiid. After embiads and one, we saw James Harden looking pretty excited out there, maybe for the first time as a seventy six, or at least with a demonstrative celebration, it says. My favorite was the Hardened bounced past to the Mbiad dunk.

TGF says Joel's slam in the fourth quarter and his blocks in the fourth are probably tied for my favorite moments that didn't include Tyrese in this game. Love those as well. Some really strong play down the stretch for the seventy six Ers in the fourth quarter, and of course, again Matt, we already said this, but it got a little closer than they would have wanted it too towards the end. But good teams know how to finish, finish

on the road, finish in hostile environments. And this is a team that is new to one another and still found a way to get it done, which I really enjoyed watching. And another one that I wanted to call out. This one comes from Emily who said, not a question, but I'm so proud of Sixers fans. I went to the game and I thought we were in South Philly. Energy is sky high. Lots of MVP chants for Joel embiid away from the center this season. Today was no exception.

Great to hear that Emily enjoyed this one. I am diving into questions. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who is sending lots of questions. Harden's deep three to hold off the Knicks run was Jack's favorite moment of the game. Hey, it's Joe Conklin joined me for Conklin's comedy United Parks Casino the number one casino in Pennsylvania and the official local casino partner. If you're Philadelphia, seventy Sixers tune into seventy six Ers games for special

Parks Casino offers for fans. Watch all the action on the big screens in the Liberty Bell Gastro pub or the Beer Garden, and come see me live with comedians from all across the country in three to sixty Parks Casino. Who's at Parks Casino dot com for tickets must be twenty one or over. Game Gambler, I hope we don't get much overlap here because I want to shout people out as well, because there are a number of responses for favorite moment of the Sixers win against the Knicks, Lauren.

But to add to the point about the atmosphere in a road game, Zach checks in and says, this was a Sixers home game. Went with a few friends and the cheers were louder for the Sixers than anyone. So a firsthand account for Zach. We love when people check in with stuff like that, but pretty amazing. And you said this last episode or last show, whatever you want to call it that this is February in the NBA, and the electricity around this team, it's pretty amazing. It's impressive.

At this juncture of an NBA season, the city and the fan base worldwide is a buzz around this Sixers team, and there's so much regular season to go and then the playoffs and what is all of that going to look like and sound like in social media. It's exciting and it's already started, which is crazy to me. Yeah, we talked about it last time, Matt. But some teams, when you look at chatter surrounding some of the Sixers rivals, these are the dog days of the NBA season, and

sometimes it's hard to get up for these games. Eighty two games is a lot. It's a lot of energy exerted. Teams coming back from the All Star breaks sometimes having a harder time getting their feet under them. Not the seventy Sixers. They have a challenge ahead of them that they want to accomplish, goals that they want to accomplish. When it comes to chemistry, not a lot of time to do it and a lot of motivation to do

it at a high level. So a really cool way for the Sixers to channel their energy in this last third of the season. I like this question and this user name Matt from Push and P who says, can we really get better from here? How will we? What can we look for? Those are three very good questions. The first one, can we get better from here? Yes? Absolutely? This is just the first two games that these guys

have shared with one another. James Harden, in his media availability post game already discussed the fact that he doesn't feel that he's fully physically healthy. Says that he's in a great place, but of course spent a couple weeks sidelined, So even from a health perspective, if this is what James Harden is able to do, not quite at full strength, he said he's looking forward to having a little bit

more bounced. He looks pretty bouncy, pretty healthy out there already again, twenty nine points, ten rebounds, sixteen assists, not at full strength. So I would imagine that that might be an area that you can look for a little bit more, especially when you think about how comfortable he can get. If you can share sixteen assists with guys that you've never played with before, things are looking pretty good.

As you continue to develop that type of chemistry and what can we look for Matt For that question, I would answer Tobias Harris, who found his stride in the fourth quarter of this one, but has had a quieter couple of games since James Harden joined the team. And of course James's addition takes a lot of pressure off of Tobias offensively. He's been good defensively, and he's found his spots. He's shot more from three than what we've

seen earlier in the season. Took five this evening or today, rather took six a couple days ago, and Tobias a good three point shooter, So look for those numbers to stay high but continue getting higher. I really liked what James Harden said. I'm seeing a lot of questions about Tobias Harris, so glad we can address these altogether. I

liked what James said during his introductory press conference. He said he believes that Tobias Harris is someone who can get you twenty points a night on a regular basis, as Sixers fans have seen over the last couple of years, and it's James's job to make sure he can do that. And more so, when you look at the existing chemistries that are developing between James Harden, Joel Embiid, Matisse Thible, even Tyrese Maxie and Tobias Harris. There's room for growth

among them. All. The Embiid Hardened pairing, the Hardened Maxi pairing are jumping off the page right away. But even those are going to get better again only two games under their belt. So, Matt, when you think about these questions, this group of questions about improvement, what are you looking

for most? There's a lot there, and let's not forget just because I mean Harden, Embiad and even Tyrese Maxie have kind of stormed out of the gates here with this new look Sixers team as a trio scoring wise and really all around performance wise. But look for the shooting, like you were touching on, to come from others. They're more shots will be had by this entire Sixers roster.

There's also a lot of regular season games, so just a lot of the young guys, a lot of the guys that haven't played as many minutes in the previous two games, including this one against the Knicks. There's so many regular season games for young players or guys. A little further down the bench right now where I think their opportunities will come. No Paul read in this one, No Isaiah Joe, no Willie Collie Stein, who's on a ten day shake Milton played seven minutes, Paul millsat played twelve.

So I think there's going to be opportunities for some of those guys as we move along with the regular season, as the Sixers play more games. Just right away, don't I wouldn't overreact to what we've seen through two games. I mean, it's great to see the success that those top guys are having, but look for development elsewhere, and you touched on a lot of these things as well. Defensive improvement as well is certainly an area that the Sixers are going to continue to focus on in defense.

I hate using cliches mats. I'll try to limit it to just this one on this Twitter space. But defense wins championships. And this is a team that has two All League defenders in Joel Embiid and Matisse Thyble. Danny Green has been an All League defender, and James Harden improving he can defend at a high level. Let's not forget what Tyrese Maxie has been able to do stealing, deflecting, blocking, talking about how much he's learned from Matisse thible and

showing it out on the floor. One of the questions that came through from Muhammad, who says, Hi, Lauren from Nigeria. As always shout out to our international listeners. We love you guys, and we love hearing where you're from, so keep telling us. But the question was, what's your take on james defensive efforts thus far? I feel like it's

being overlooked. That's a fair question, and this, of course is not necessarily James Harden's primary skill talking about defense, but a game high five steals today for James Harden, who has looked just tremendously dialed in throughout each of his thirty nine minutes tonight, throughout each of his minutes against the Timberwolves, it's been a pleasure to see what he's been able to do. You talk about improvement, That's

an area he talks about striving to improve. So I would be willing to say that, yeah, that is an area that's been a little bit overlooked and somewhere that he's going to continue to focus on along with the rest of the team as they head down the stretch and into the playoffs, Matt for sure. Clutch Chris checks in with some more Tobias Harris talk, referencing plus minus and how Game one as a new look team, Harris

was plus twenty four plus twenty five. Next, talking about impact outside of scoring, Clutch Chris says, his presence alone seems to be helping. So we kind of we've touched on that. We touched on that in the last space as well. I can list out a couple more favorite moments from listeners from the game before we get too far A point a game high plus twenty five from

Tobias Harris today. So again, when you have scorers that can score at the level of a James Harden or a Joel Embi, two of the best in the league, if not the best, two of the best ever, someone like Tyrese Maxie who's growing as a scorer, Tobias Harris has never been one who has needed the offense to revolve around him. So the challenge now, of course, is to get him more touches and find him more buckets where he's comfortable. But his presence, like you said, you

have to give him attention. Right as a defense and the seventy sixers really look to him as a leader on the floor, off the floor, as a communicator in the locker room. So his impact being felt, even though they've been two quieter games for Tobias Harris and Worth noting he was playing the best basketball of the season thus far headed into the All Star break, his spirit has been high, his vibes have been high, and we can expect that to continue as folks that follow this team.

So looking forward to seeing what James Harden is able to unlock in Tobias Harris. But like you said, plus twenty four in the first matchup against the Timberwolves, plus twenty five today for Tobias Harris. So the final lines don't always tell the entire story. Go ahead, Matt, tell me about some more favorite moments from the game. You and I Lauren Rosen had maxi moments as our favorites. Sam says the hardened pass for the embiid slam at the end of the game and Bead looks happy, bawling.

Avery says, m Bead and Harden pick and roll. There's a few others will sprinkle those in. Now everyone's eyes are on James Harden's home debut as a Philadelphia seventy six Ers, which everyone can't wait for. That. It was exciting to hear what James said about Sixers fans when he was introduced to the Philadelphia media for the first time. He said, Sixers fans are crazy. He said, he's excited to have them on his side, and this is an opportunity for Sixers fans to get crazy on his side.

That'll be Wednesday at the Center in South Philadelphia. If you're listening and you're a local, would love, love love to see you there. It's gonna be It's gonna be loud. Matt. I am very very much looking forward to hearing the building on Wednesday night. James calls the fans crazy, I call them passionate, I call them loud, and I think this is going to be the loudest we've heard the Center in quite some time. Very much looking forward to

that one. Not that the Knicks are really firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, because they're down after this currently at twelve at twenty five and thirty six. The Sixers are thirty seven and twenty three after the win, currently third in the East. But the idea of the Sixers and the Knicks meeting in back to back games when you are more familiar with the recent play of

certain players on both teams. I think that even adds to the hype around Wednesday's game, so everyone's really looking forward to that. What else do we have in the questions department? A lot of my feedback is favorite moments, which will get to more of those. Like I said, as we go, but keep the questions coming if you have them, click on our avatars and send us a DM with any questions about the game or the Sixers or like we like to say, Sixers adjacent topics. I

have a couple more. Let me see where I want to go next. This one comes from number one Thible fan. What do you think about Matisse's open looks since having James Harden on the floor. It was cool to hear Doris Burke sort of talk about what she was seeing from Matise Thible today on the ABC broadcast. Very interesting to think about who's out on the floor with Matisse

when he starts right. When you think of offensive threats like a James Harden, like a Joel Embiide, like a Tyrese Maxie and a Tobias Harris Matisse Thible has never been relied upon for heavy offensive contributions, or at least heavy volume in his offensive contributions. But because of the way defenses have to account for a Joel A James A Tobias A Tyrese, Matisse ends up uncovered quite a bit. Good to see him and shoot when he was open from three, but also really cool to see him cutting

into open space today and James Harden. Of course, with the attention Matisse Thible was already growing as a cutter and finding those open spaces, especially with Joel Embiid ahead of the acquisition of James Harden. Now he is taking even more attention away from a guy like Matise Thible. So cool to see him out there figuring it out and then of course making the defensive contributions that we are accustomed to. But Matt, what have you thought about

Matis's first couple of games alongside James Harden. It's been interesting. It's been a topic that everyone is interested in the starting lineup and who's out there in the bigger minutes and all of that. Matisse finished four of six from the field, but over two from three eight points six rebounds, two assists, three steals against the Knicks. I think he

provides a pretty important skill set for that group. With Harris, Embiide, Maxie and Harden, I think just generally, ball movement with Harden has been really good, and Matisse and others are going to continue to benefit from that. Looks wise, I thought early in this game when Harden was off the

floor of the ball movement suffered a little bit. But that kind of is not directly talking about the starting group, but just generally, you would like to see Matisse probably like a lot of these guys, take and make a few more three pointers, just shoot the ball with confidence. But a lot of the guys who came off the bench, I would say the same thing about That's what everyone's going to talk about is shooting, and when you're playing

with James Harden is shooting, catching and shooting. Marcus asked Matt what we thought about the bench performance today. A quieter outing from the bench overall, but probably because they weren't relied upon quite as much with staggered lineups as well, more starters sharing the floor with the bench. We've seen

a lot of commentary about that. Doc Rivers, of course, set forth the intention to tinue playing James Harden and Joel embiide one or the other at most times, or are pairing of James, Tobias Tyrese and Joel at as much throughout as much of the game as possible. So that means that the guys that are coming off the bench aren't going to be relied on for quite as much or at quite as high of a volume. I liked what I saw today though from George Niang at

the gate. He made his first two threes. He missed his next three, but because of the threat he is from beyond the arc, that's another player the defenses have to account for, regardless of who is out there on the floor. So to answer this one, I'm going to say that I liked what George Niang was able to do early. I like the way that he kept shooting throughout. I think that that pairing, the George Niang James Harden pairing. We've heard them talk about it already, especially George talking

about his excitement to play alongside alongside James Harden. I'm really looking forward to watching that chemistry continue to develop, and then of course seeing the two of them get hype is another thing that we can continue to watch. Matt, what else are you seeing? I can keep rolling as well. The hype is real. It was a it was a hype game. Apologies if I repeat any if people messaged both of us from the beginning, But a lot of

these moments are worth circling back to. Favorite moments from the Sixers win over the Knicks, a play, a celebration, whatever the case. Straps said the hardened reaction after ambiads and one Jack says the mbiad slam, Aaron says, love the team having fun. Favorite moment when Harden drove to the lane late in the game and had the space to easily make a floater but decided to lob it to Joel instead. So a ton of great moments from this one. And again I don't have a ton of

questions the people. I mean, we've talked Tobias Harris a lot already. The people are just celebrating right now. And why wouldn't you, I agree, Matt Murphy, why wouldn't you. I've seen a lot of positivity. I wanted to shout out disgraced Space Force lieutenant first saying let's talk about Tobias Harris a little bit more. He had the best plus minus on the team today. I think this question rolled in before we talked about it. How does Tobias

fit in this offense? We again, we've talked about this already, but Tobias Harris had the best plus minus on the team today plus twenty five plus twenty four last time. So to me, that's not somebody that I worry about finding his opportunities, especially when James Harden has expressed that it's going to continue to be a priority. And where

as to where people fit in this offense. Again, the fact that the opposing defenses have to account for so many threats at so many different times throughout the game, not just with the starting lineup. We haven't even talked about what Danny Green is able to do as a threat off the bench. He's been coming off the bench the last few games. But some really threatening, menacing options when you when you have to think as a defense about what you are going to do. Tobias Harris, of course,

is a huge part of that. Joel and B nine boards. A lot of questions about that tenth board, Matt. So we'll keep you guys posted. If people if the people at the league. The folks at the League decide to grant Joel Embiid his tenth rebound. Another shout out for the Harden Mbiad celebration, and this is a good one. This one's from Kate, who says it looks like Embiad was trying to match Harden's celebratory motion. Again, it's just chemistry.

They're learning to develop chemistry together. The good thing about the Joel rebound in question and getting him do a double double is that the streak that he's on, or the main streak of focus right now in road games is just twenty five plus points. So that streak continues because he had thirty seven in large part due to the twenty three free throws, extending his franchise record streak of consecutive twenty five point games on the road to

eighteen in a row. So the rebound doesn't really factor in there. But of course you want Joel Embid to rack up another double double this season. I think we've we've talked a lot about the bench lawn. I think a question that you could pose is which player or two kind of gets into a rhythm gets hot the soonest in this time period with the seventy six ers. Niang had a couple of threes early. We've talked about I think Shake Milton as he continues to work his

way back. They played three guard lineups at times. I think he's a player to watch, so I would probably say, like a Shake Milton, who played seven minutes in this game, was two for three from the field. I think he might be my pick on like who gets going the soonest or figures it out the quickest playing with a new teammate or two. And of course worth noting that Shake Milton has been recently sidelined due to that back confusion.

So great to see him back out on the floor, but of course now trying to get back up to speed with a new teammate as well. So shout out to Shake Milton for getting healthy and making his minutes count. Matt. Of course, we can't forget about a guy like for Concorkmas, who has been through a bit of a shooting slump this season, but has also shown up in a big way in a few of the Sixers games. I'm thinking most notably about their win in Milwaukee just over a

week ago. And I think when you talk about the bench you got to consider the fact that when a trio of players is able to reach about ninety points in your starting lineup, you're not going to be relied upon for tremendous volume from your other options. But what you do need to rely on is a threat from those options, and these seventy sixers have shown that there is no shortage of threats across the roster. Matt, do

you have other questions. I'm trying to find that I got a lot at the beginning, and I don't want to miss anybody. I have a lot of comments about the no look pass early in the game from James Harden to Joel In transition, Mary identified that as a top moment, favorite moment. John says favorite moment hard and

no look to Joel dunk in the first half. That was All Star game, Like we say it a lot, like these are NBA All Stars multiple time, five time for Joel, ten for Harden in a regular season game doing these types of things and Harden kind of leaning into the defender. I believe it was RJ. Barrett and dropping it off for MBAD. I'll drop that play at the top of the space in our game reaction space

right now, you can click on the Sixers tweet. I love that about spaces you can kind of navigate around, keep us on, get your questions in, and listen for the answer. But that play was pretty cool. As a Sixers supporter, I think most would say totally legal of James to kind of push into the defender a little bit and lead block for Joel that that was a fun one. Jay and T both asked me the same exact question, a question I've never gotten before, Matt, and

I'm curious to hear what you think again. Shout out to Jay and JOHNNYT for a very funny one for me. Are actually sorry, Jay and MVP Jalen my bad. How bored do you get watching the games? What an interesting question to get twice today. I have not been bored whatsoever over these past couple of games, especially watching new rotations,

new combinations of players. That's sort of one of my favorite things to watch is chemistry developing and guys maybe failing in moments and then figuring out how to learn from those failures or learn from those missus or miss ques. That's something that I'm going to continue to enjoy throughout the rest of the regular season. Not Unlike Matt, what we've talked about with the players, Usually there's a little bit of a lull in the regular season towards the end.

I am not feeling that whatsoever. I feel like there's a lot to watch, a lot to be excited about, and a lot to learn when it comes to James Harden's game and the way that he changes everything about this team's game. Matt, to you ever get bored watching the games, Lauren, you cut out there a little bit at the end. But I heard the question. That question, and the fact that you've got it multiple times has to be because of all the free throws, right? Is

that what's being implied? So? I would have imagined so. But they don't bother me whatsoever. It gives me a second to look down at the stats and figure out what else is going on. Thirty nine for forty four from the line the Philadelphia seventy six Ers in the one twenty five one O nine win over the Knicks thirty seven and twenty three record Now for the Sixers, the thirty nine made free throws the most for any any NBA team in a single game so far this season.

Forty four attempts ties the most taken by a team, So no, I don't get bored during these games. You never know what James Harden's going to do. You never know what Joel Embiid's gonna do. Tyrese Maxie always has a smile on his face. Watching them develop as a group is going to be must watch TV for the regular season and beyond. I think with the free throws, if anything, it gives you a chance to kind of take a breath. I like that in an NBA game.

I look forward to timeouts. Not that the pace is always super high in these sixers games, but just generally, if you want to catch up on tweets, or you want to like viewing tweets, or you want to do something cut a highlight or make a graphic, or think about what tweet you want to send out on your own. I think the more trips to the line, Sure the game might last longer, but you can kind of reset, and there's so many people locked into every play of

these games. I think more resets are a little bit better. Maybe it's a perk, Matt, you and I might need to purchase some real estate in this spin zone of what it means to have players going to the line as frequently and as heavily as they are going to This is Hey, this is from a G League broadcaster who They only take one free throw per trip in the G League, and it counts for two or three

points unless it's an and one opportunity. So we don't even have time to put up graphics on the telecast when players are at the line because their trips are so short. So maybe that's part of the reason why I'm soaking these free throws. In a comment on the free throws from clown Baby, you guys are cracking me up with these names. Today, clown Babies Sixers made their free throws, the Nix didn't. That's a key point as

to how the Sixers were able to win. People might hate on it, but it's important that we have guys that can consistently knock them down. It's a great point. Shooting over eighty percent from the free throw line in both of the first two games with James Harden, notably today eighty eight point six percent from the line four the seventy sixers thirty nine for forty four from the free throw line in this game. Such a great point.

I appreciate that one and Matt I think it's interesting to also consider what this means about the way that the change in pace is really going to continue. The seventy Sixers among the top free throws shoot teams in the league, but the Houston Rockets were the leading free throw shooting team thus far this season. They averaged twenty

five a game. Again, the Sixers today forty four free throws, and that of course is a little bit higher than what they were able to do in James Harden's first contest as a Sixer, but they still shot thirty six against the Minnesota Timberwolf. So definitely something to watch and whether you love it or you hate it, it is threatening, it is menacing, It is going to drive other teams crazy, and if you're a Sixers fan, you got to be excited about that. The most exciting part for Jersey Rain

was watching Maxie step back three. Says, I really enjoy watching him play in his more natural position. Maxie has been getting buckets in the first two games alongside James Harden. That wasn't their comment. That was my own little ad in there at the end. But favorite part for Jersey Rain was the Maxie step back three. That was also my favorite moment, Homie. Samuel favorite moment of the game had to be that big dunk in the fourth quarter when Harden and Embiid ran the court and Joel was

swinging on the rim. Thanks for all the input here. Love all of this and another takeaway, Lauren, A little under the radar that I'm gonna put on the table. I still have to work on my research when it comes to Tyrese Maxie's performance in City Edition uniforms, but I feel like he scores scores better in the City Edition, and then it was the first look that this is one of your things, and he was really I mean, Maxie was really on pace for a big scoring day.

Maybe netting out to twenty one doesn't help my research all that much because it's not that far off his overall scoring average, but it was the first look at James Harden playing in this year's Sixer's City Edition. I think it suits him quite well, and he had a triple double, so he's off to a good start statistically

in the spectrum themed uniforms. Matt, I'm gonna be honest, if you're going to keep alluding to this elusive step, you might actually have to do some research on it, and I would be very curious to see what you would find because I'm starting to notice the trend. I'm starting to make that same connection that you had. So Matt, I'm gonna wait for you. But the end of the season,

is that the deadline? Sure, I'd love to hear. I'd love to hear anytime between today and the end of the season, and I look forward to hearing what you were able to find this question or rather a comment from Carol from Nairobi. Again, shout out to the international listeners. You guys are the best lots of Australia presence, even though the Australians told us after the last game that a day game was going to be challenging because it is the middle of the night there. So if you're

still listening, shout out to the Perth squad. We really appreciate you guys. And a reminder that this will be available on the seventy six Ers Insiders podcast feed as well, So if you want to go to bed, if you're listening that internationally and you're worried you're going to miss out, you're not. It's gonna be okay. Matt Murphy does an amazing job up keeping the seventy six ers Insiders podcast feeds, so make sure you're following that wherever you get your podcasts.

Almost all of these spaces end up there at some point. But anyway, back to Carol from Nairobi, I loved watching the game more because it was actually at nine PM my time, the opposite of what I just said. I'm so hyped by the win and it's one am and I'm still awake watching highlights and listening to this space. Thank you for staying awake and listening to this space.

My best moments were many, but I loved the Maxi celebration and the m Beard celebration when mbid got the N one Matt, I think I'm all in on m Beard. I don't mind that whatsoever. All in on what was that on Mbard? The nickname emb e a r D for James and Joel. Your thoughts. I like it. I'm not over the moon with it. I guess it has to grow on me. I do like It's not bad,

but so thanks for that. I think we might not be able to get to everybody's favorite moment today, but a couple days without a game to sort of reminisce on these moments and see what people had to say. We can always carry them over to the next spaces. We do these after Sixers wins, trying something a little different instead of the morning following the game, going with the immediate reaction to the Sixers win in New York against the Knicks that got them to thirty seven and

twenty three. They'll have the Knicks again, but in South Philadelphia on Wednesday at seven thirty Eastern. Any final closing thoughts from you, Lauren. I'm just excited about what's to come, Matt Murphy and and how could we not be really cool? First two appearances for James Harden one thirty three to one o two against the Timberwolves for the first stop of this two game road trip. On the second stop one twenty five to one oh nine over the New

York Knicks at the Home and Home. As you mentioned, so the Knicks now join the Sixers on their way to South Philadelphia. You'd imagine the Sixers will get here a little bit quicker, of course, but that one will be on Wednesday night at the Center. Matt, I will see you there. I'm hoping to see lots of listeners there as well. I'm so looking forward to what is to come. There will be challenges, there will be ups

and downs, but this is exciting. It's an awesome time to be a Sixers fan or to be part of the Sixers family. I look forward to doing more of these you, Matt Murphy again, for those listening. We do these after every Sixers wins. We will hope to do quite a few more throughout the regular season, into the playoffs and beyond. Follow the seventy Sixers Insider Feed. If

you're not already follow The Big Niang Theory. I know I've heard at seeing all your questions about whether or not James Harden is coming on The Big Niang Theory. It's a great question. It's a question I share, and it's a question that I am hoping to answer expeditiously for you guys. But that's George Niang's podcast, The Big Niang Theory. He does a great job on that feed

right now. There are long form interviews, will work on Quartermath Tires, Maxie Matistible and of course George Kings as well. So it's interested in learning more about your favorite Sixers, make sure you do that. We're hoping to report a couple more in the next couple of weeks with some highly requested guests. That's all I would say, but looking forward to sharing more of those stories with you guys.

Matt Murphy, thank you for doing this as always. Thank you too, Julian Becca, our social team that keep the train on the tracks for these Twitter spaces. Matt, I think that's all I got. That's all we got. James Garden, Harden at the Garden, whatever you want to say, triple double four James Harden and in the Sixers win over the Knicks. We look forward to talking with everyone again after the next Sixers win. Thanks for being here live or in podcast form, if that's how you're hearing this

right this very second. Appreciate everyone out there as always for rocking with us on six Ers Twitter spaces. Appreciate Lauren Rosen and our whole team. I'm Matt Murphy. We will talk to you next time.