The Sixers’ decision to leave James Harden as a healthy scratch for the first two games of the NBA season will be investigated by the league. “We are looking into the facts around James Harden’s availability tonight to determine whether an approved reason exists for his lack of participation,” a league spokesperson told ESPN. New rules implemented for this season limit the number of games “star players” can miss. Furthermore, the rules stringently outline the reasons why a player of Harden’s caliber can miss games.
Harden returned to the Sixers practice facility earlier this week after a ten-day absence for a “personal matter”. Head coach Nick Nurse told reporters that Harden would miss the team’s two-game season-opening road trip against Milwaukee and Toronto so he could “ramp up” to being game-ready. However, things were then complicated by the fact that Harden attempted to board the team’s flight to Wisconsin. He was stopped by security at a private airfield and told he did not have authorization to board the flight.
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Harden-less Sixers Fall To Milwaukee
However, the Sixers will be kicking themselves after their Harden-less opener in Milwaukee. Despite four players surpassing 20 points on the night, the team couldn’t overcome the 62 points put up by the Lillard-Giannis tandem. The game ended with a 118-117 win for the hosts. Tyrese Maxey led the team with 31 points while reigning MVP Joel Embiid had 24. Meanwhile, Tobias Harris added and Kelly Oubre Jr. put up 27 off the bench.
Many Sixers fans will argue that the Bucks escaped with the win. The Dame-Giannis tandem was really the only thing that Milwaukee had going for them on opening night. Only two other Bucks, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis, reached double-digit points. However, the game showed the potency of what the newly formed partnership could achieve. Despite this, the Sixers will look to regroup and bounce back against Toronto. Harden is expected to make his season debut against the Blazers this weekend.
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