Joel Embiid, James Harden Trade Praise After Sixers' Dominant Win vs. Timberwolves

After a week-long break, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to the floor on Friday night to face the Minnesota Timberwolves. While it was just a late February matchup for Minnesota, the game was significant for the Sixers considering it was James Harden's Philadelphia debut.

For weeks, the Sixers have anticipated rolling out a starting lineup that pairs their superstar center Joel Embiid up with another All-Star. And Harden's first game in a Sixers uniform didn't disappoint.

The ten-time All-Star checked in for 35 minutes. He put up 12 shots, with seven attempts coming from beyond the arc. The star guard drained all but two of his threes. After knocking down 58-percent of his field-goal attempts and going 8-9 from the free-throw line, Harden finished his Sixers debut with 27 points. 

“It’s what I expected,” said Joel Embiid after the matchup. “Two smart basketball players, we want to win, and we got great people around us whether it’s the coaching staff or our teammates. That’s what I expected. I’ve never really been this wide-open in my life. Seriously, the passes, I wasn’t even expecting it and it was just coming. We just gotta keep doing the same thing and get better every single day.”

With Embiid playing at an MVP-caliber level this season, Harden's presence was expected to give the seven-footer a huge boost. However, Embiid's presence helps Harden out a ton as well.

“He makes the game so much easier for everybody on the court with him,” Harden said following the matchup. “Obviously, we all know how great of a scorer he is inside and out, but he draws so much attention that we got spacing around the floor for him and he’s able to do whatever he wants.”

The Harden-Embiid duo created 61 of Philadelphia's 133 points on Friday night. Their dominant showing helped the Sixers put the Timberwolves away with ease on the road as the Sixers won 133-102. With that victory, the Sixers advance to 36-23.

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