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PHILADELPHIA — The James Harden saga continued for the 76ers Sunday when the disgruntled point guard reported for, but did not play in, the home opener.
Unavailable during most of training camp and instructed not to accompany the Sixers to their first two road games, Harden was in the Wells Fargo Center for a 126-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. For most of the game, he sat on the bench, his head covered by a hooded sweatshirt
He just wasn’t available to play.
“He was here for the film session and the (pregame) walk-through,” Nick Nurse said. “The report on him was that he had some good conditioning days, but it is still in the ramp-up process. We’re looking forward to having in back in practice Tuesday. That’s about where we are with that.”
Harden, who authorized a one-year, $35.7 million contract for this season, has requested a trade. When one was not forthcoming, he publicly attacked Daryl Morey’s character, then skipped most of training camp, citing personal reasons.
Insufficiently trained, according to the Sixers, the 34-year-old presumptive Hall of Famer was assigned to work himself into shape. The Sixers will be off Monday and then will prepare for a Thursday visit from Toronto.
According to Nurse, there has been no regression in Harden’s preparation.
“No,” he said. “All signs are positive, conditioning-wise and all those things that are needed to get him into some live action. Hopefully we can do that Tuesday.”
• • •
New coach, same game.
Such was the situation before the home opener when, almost exactly as Doc Rivers would do before every game last season, Nurse did not officially declare Joel Embiid ready to play until required shortly before game time.
With the Sixers playing a back-to-back after winning Saturday night in Toronto, there was at least a hint that they were considering resting the sitting MVP — and so said the early-evening injury report, which listed Embiid as “questionable,” for the reason of “rest.”
“He’s going to go through one little test here beforehand,” Nurse said, more than an hour before the game. “There’s nothing injury-wise. We played last night and traveled and all that stuff. And we’ll find out shortly if he’s available. But he should be.”
That familiar routine over, Embiid played 29:25 and collected 35 points and 15 rebounds.
“It’s all about taking care of business,” Embiid said. “I am excited about that. We still have a long way to go. I missed some passes. Defensively, I should have done a better job too.
“I’m happy. But we still have a long way to go.”
Nurse implied he was not seeking to gain a coaching advantage by being coy about Embiid’s availability, saying that head trainer Simon Rice, general manager Elton Brand, Morey and more would be in on the decision.
Just the same, it did complicate the planning of Portland coach Chauncey Billups.
“Obviously, if he doesn’t play, it changes the way they’ll play and it changes the way we’ll play, as well,” he said. “Having played as long as I did, I know it would be a scary game with him and a scary game without him. If he doesn’t play, there are so many guys in that locker room who will be saying, ‘All right, it’s on.’”
Expect the tradition to continue.
“I think the ‘questionable’ thing is probably going to always be like that on back-to-backs, just to make sure where we’re at,” Nurse said. “But tonight, he was super dominating.”
• • •
According to Billups, one player “is the straw that stirs the drink,” for the Sixers.
Surprise: It’s not the center who led the league in scoring.
“Obviously Embiid is the guy, the man, the MVP here,” Billups said. “But I think Tyrese makes this team go. They feed off his toughness, his energy, his speed and his spirit. I think he is the guy there. I love to see young guys really find themselves. And when they do, the rest is history.”
Tyrese Maxey played 34:33 and scored 26 points. But he did experience what Nurse called “tingling” in his arm after an in-game collision.
“It never went away,” the coach said. “So I guess we’ll have to check on that.”
For the second consecutive year, the Sixers chose Maxey, not Embiid, to take the courtside microphone and address the fans, in the home-opener custom.
“We had a great year last year,” he said. “We plan to have a great year this year. We appreciate all of you. We appreciate the support. Go Sixers.”
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