James Harden Acknowledges Struggles After Sixers Fall Short to Suns

The Philadelphia 76ers were hopeful that their ten-time All-Star guard James Harden was starting to get back on track.

After having a rough shooting stretch, Harden bounced back on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers by having an efficient shooting night and scoring a team-high of 29 points in the blowout win against the Clippers.

Just as it seemed Harden was beginning to turn a corner and start heating up once again, he went cold in the second half of Sunday's game against the Phoenix Suns.

In the first quarter of Sunday's matchup, Harden hit on one of his three shots from the field, which came from beyond the arc. After going 4-4 from the free-throw line, the star guard collected seven points as the Sixers rallied for nearly 40 in the first quarter.

When the second quarter rolled around, Harden continued looking solid as he hit on another three and went 2-2 from the line for five points in seven minutes. At the end of the first half, Harden had 12 points in 17 minutes. 

Harden's first-half performance wasn't anything spectacular, but he helped keep the Sixers out in front. When the second half rolled around, though, he struggled big time. In 21 minutes, Harden attempted just six shots from the field. 

None of his attempts were successful. Aside from the two points, he collected from the charity stripe, Harden nearly went scoreless in the second half. Although Harden's shots weren't falling, he claimed he still needed to shoot more after the game.

"A couple of calls that didn't get called," Harden explained. "A couple of missed shots. Eleven shots isn't enough. I've got to take more shots and be more aggressive."

Overall, Harden finished Sunday night's game with 14 points in nearly 40 minutes. Outside of Matisse Thybulle's three-point outing, Harden scored the fewest points compared to the rest of Philly's starting lineup.

His struggles in the second half were certainly a reason Philadelphia suffered a 114-104 loss against the Western Conference's top seed. 

"I think we had a pretty solid game," said Harden. "We just didn't finish the game the way we needed to. Mental collapses, defensive breakdowns, offensively being stagnant and not getting really good possessions and capitalizing. Tough one but definitely a learning experience. Time to go back home."

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.