James Harden finished just 4-11 from the field with five turnovers in the Sixers' embarrassing 103-88 loss in Game 5 vs. the Raptors on Monday night. After the game, Joel Embiid was asked if Harden needs to take more shots.
"I've been saying all season since he got here he just needs to be aggressive and he needs to be himself," Embiid said. "That's not really my job, that's probably on coach to talk to him and tell him to take more shots, especially if they're gonna guard me the way that they're guarding. But that's really not my job. But we all need to be better, offensively we missed a bunch of wide open shots."
Harden is averaging 13.4 shot attempts per game in this Eastern Conference quarterfinals series, shooting just 37.6-percent from the field.
In fairness, Harden is also averaging a playoff career-high 9.2 assists per game, but now with Embiid playing through a torn ligament in his right thumb and consistently facing double and triple-teams, Harden will need to step up offensively for Philadelphia to close this series out.
Related
The Sixers lead the series over the Raptors 3-2, but have lost two straight and the pressure has shifted towards them with Game 6 on Thursday night in Toronto.
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