Joel Embiid Urges Doc Rivers to Get James Harden to be Aggressive

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded for James Harden at the trade deadline back in February, they did it hoping that by the time the playoffs rolled around,

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded for James Harden at the trade deadline back in February, they did it hoping that by the time the playoffs rolled around, Harden would be healthy and comfortable enough in the Sixers' system that he could thrive playing alongside Joel Embiid.

Giving up three key players and several draft picks for Harden showed the Sixers have a championship or bust mentality for this season. So far, the Harden experience in the playoffs hasn't lived up to expectations just yet.

While the Sixers got off to a hot start in the postseason by firing off with a 3-0 lead over the Toronto Raptors in the first round, their last two losses have been uninspiring. And the ten-time All-Star James Harden hasn't exactly been the dominant scorer he once was.

Harden has averaged 18 points through five games while shooting 37-percent from the field and 37-percent from deep. The last time Harden failed to notch over 20 points per game in the playoffs was back in 2011-2012, when Harden was coming off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In Philadelphia's last two matchups, they had an opportunity to put the Raptors away once and for all. During their Game 4 matchup last Saturday, Harden scored 22 points in 42 minutes, with ten of his points coming from the free-throw line. In the potential elimination game, the All-Star drained just 29-percent of his shots from the field in the eight-point loss on the road.

The Sixers returned to their home court the following game, and Harden didn't do much better. Harden took six fewer shots from the field and drained just four of his attempts. He finished Game 5 with just 15 points in 39 minutes as the Sixers collected a 15-point loss to the Raptors.

What do the Sixers need to do in order to get Harden going in the postseason? Philadelphia's All-Star center Joel Embiid recently weighed in.

Embiid Calls on Doc Rivers 

“I’ve been saying all season since he got here, he just needs to be aggressive, and he needs to be himself,” said Embiid following Game 5. 

While Embiid urges Harden to be more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball, the big man clarifies that it's not going to be on him to get what the team needs out of Harden. Instead, it's on the head coach, Doc Rivers.

“That’s not really my job," Embiid continued. "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 they’ve been guarding, but that’s really not my job.”

Rivers preached the same message as Embiid throughout the final stretch of the regular season. He called on Harden to get more aggressive and become the Houston version of himself rather than the Brooklyn version. 

So far, the Sixers haven't seen that happen. As Game 6 approaches on Thursday night, many hope to see Harden figure it out as the Raptors will indeed focus on shutting Embiid down as he's been the key to Philly's success throughout the series.

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