The NBA's Christmas Day slate got off to an exciting start as the Philadelphia 76ers managed to come from behind to take down the New York Knicks, 119-112, at Madison Square Garden. After trailing for the majority of the game, the Sixers dominated the fourth quarter in order to come away with a rather comfortable victory.
Philadelphia's stars shined bright as Joel Embiid led the way with 35 points and eight rebounds while James Harden was equally impressive putting up a line of 29 points, 13 assists and four steals as well. In the end, that was enough to get the job done against a Knicks squad that's offense was spearheaded by Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson as the duo combined for 58 points in the loss.
With the win, the Sixers improve to 20-12 on the season while the Knicks fall to 18-16. Here are the three biggest takeaways from today's game
1. Harden shines amid free agent rumors
Rumors tend not to be kind to James Harden's game. He shot 5-of-16 from the field in his final game as a Rocket, a blowout loss to the Lakers, before he called the situation unfixable. He was soon traded to Brooklyn from there. And then, infamously, he scored only four points in his final game with the Nets, a loss against the Sacramento Kings. Now he's a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, but if today's news is to be believed, he might not be for much longer.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday that Harden is considering a return to the Rockets in free agency this summer. Harden left money on the table to re-sign in Philadelphia this off-season. The Sixers have now won eight games in a row. The timing of the report was odd, to say the least, but that much smoke on Christmas almost has to indicate a fire. Given Harden's history, a poor game felt almost inevitable.
That's not what happened. Harden finished with 29 points and 13 assists, but the numbers don't quite do him justice. He took over once Joel Embiid went to the bench in the third quarter, scoring 10 quick points to tie the game and assisting Georges Niang on the 3-pointer that gave Philly the lead. This wasn't just a win or a statement performance, it was a clutch masterpiece that contradicts Harden's own personal history. Will that mean something as Philadelphia competes for a title and tries to erase Harden's past meltdowns in big games? Only time will tell, but this was an encouraging start.
2. Embiid is back in the MVP conversation
Joel Embiid is sitting at 10-to-1 to win MVP at Caesars Sportsbook, but today was the sort of signature performance that's going to vault him up the leaderboard. Embiid netted 35 points in a comeback Christmas win on the road to extend Philly's winning streak to eight. With their next game coming against the Wizards, that streak is almost certainly getting to nine and perhaps double digits. Embiid is now averaging 33 points per game on a team that missed Harden for a month and has barely had Tyrese Maxey.
In other words, we're exactly where we've been the past two Decembers. Embiid starts slow and comes on like a freight train right around this time of year. He's been the runner-up in the past two MVP races. This year's race is significantly more crowded, with Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo joining Nikola Jokic at the top. But any notion that a slow start would keep Embiid out of the hunt now needs to fade. He's as good as ever and the Sixers are starting to reflect that.
3. New York's missing star power
It's an oversimplification to say that Philadelphia's superstars were the difference in this game. That ignores De'Anthony Melton's five early 3-pointers and a host of other contributions. But here's the stat of the day: Harden and Embiid scored 37 points in the second half, while New York didn't even score 37 points in the last 20 total minutes of the game. Harden and Embiid took over in the second half. New York had no response. Julius Randle started the game with 25 in the first half and ended the game with 35.
Again, it's an oversimplification to reduce the game to that, but there's a reason New York's roster-building strategy appears to be "wait until we can trade for a superstar." The Knicks understand that as well as Randle and Jalen Brunson have played, they aren't going to be able to keep up with the Hardens and Embiids of the world when it really counts. Christmas isn't the playoffs. It's only going to get harder in April, as the Knicks learned against Atlanta in 2021. Until this team makes the trade it's been waiting for, outcomes like this are going to be sadly predictable.