Doc Rivers, Tobias Harris Praise James Harden's Playmaking vs. Hornets

James Harden is still trying to find the right balance in Philadelphia. Last year, when the superstar guard was traded from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn

James Harden is still trying to find the right balance in Philadelphia. Last year, when the superstar guard was traded from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets, Harden went from being the primary scorer on his own team to become one-third of a superstar trio playing alongside other scorers in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

With the Sixers, Harden links up with a superstar center in Joel Embiid and a solid supporting starting cast in Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, and Matisse Thybulle.

While Harden was expected to play more of a facilitator role in Brooklyn, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers respectfully made it clear that he doesn't want that version of James Harden in Philadelphia. Instead, he wants the aggressive scorer he saw in Houston.

"He's trying to fit in and get guys going, and I told him, 'No, thank you.' I said, 'You get going, and we'll figure it out. We just need you to be you,'" said Doc Rivers earlier this week. Those comments came after Harden had a 32-point outing against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.

While Harden responded to Rivers' request to play more aggressively in the scoring department, the ten-time All-Star can't help but put his facilitator cap on when he senses his teammates are heating up from the field. 

Facilitating to Victory

Joel Embiid led the Sixers in scoring with 29 points on Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets. Typically, Harden is next in line, but Tobias Harris came second in scoring for the Sixers with 23 points in 32 minutes against the Hornets.

Tyrese Maxey collected 19 points of his own. And Matisse Thybulle, who is typically known to be a lockdown defender rather than a producer on offense, notched double-digits and scored 12 points in 21 minutes.

Harden's 12 points in a blowout victory make it seem as if he didn't play a significant part in Philly's beatdown against the Hornets. However, 13 assists from the star guard show just how crucial he was in the matchup.

"He's such a great passer," said Rivers after the game. "I thought he passed up shots tonight that he would've had, but I just liked how he played overall. James knows he can get points when he wants them, and tonight, he just realized everyone had it going. Just keep them going. I think that's great by James."

"He's seen pretty much any defense throughout his career, and he's really able to pick that apart," said Tobias Harris. "He knows when teams are gonna blitz him, where guys are gonna be, how guys are gonna be open, and you saw that tonight with the Hornets and the way that they played him and how he was able to find good looks for other guys on the floor to make shots."

As his own shot has been inconsistent lately, Harden didn't feel a need to force anything on Saturday. While Rivers requested the aggressive version of Harden for the rest of the season, Harden knew to flip the switch to playmaker, and it paid off.

"When I'm advancing the ball, and Tyrese got it going, Tobias and Jo got it going," Harden explained. "As you see tonight, we put up 140. Just me trying to make the right plays. There are nights when I need to be more aggressive. So, just possession by possession and just seeing the game as it plays out."

The Sixers took care of the Hornets with ease on Saturday. Although the matchup was tight throughout the first half, a third-quarter explosion put the game way out of reach for the Hornets. In the end, the Sixers climbed out of their slump and collected a dominant 144-114 win for their 47th victory of the year.

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