James Harden was playing extremely well for the Philadelphia 76ers just a few weeks ago. However, now things seem to be taking a downward turn as Harden is simply not playing to the level he is known for. Joel Embiid has had to carry the team on his back, and over the last week, the team has experienced some bad losses, including a defeat at the hands of the Detroit Pistons, who are among the worst teams in the league.
After having a bad shooting night, Harden was even thrown under the bus by his head coach, Doc Rivers. While speaking to the media, Rivers went out of his way to say that his bench was not the problem last night, however, he did note that Harden was a big factor in why the team lost.
"Well, [the bench] didn't struggle," Rivers said. "They didn't get a lot of shots in their defense. I think during that stretch, it was more James than them. So you know, yeah, it's just a tough night."
It remains to be seen if this is something that will go over well with the Sixers star. Harden has always had motivation problems, and being called out like this probably won't help matters.
You can see the highlights from last night's game, down below.