James Harden Drops Defender and Makes the Three This Time, Which Looks Much Cooler

The Philadelphia 76ers finally won their first game of the season on Monday night, beating the Indiana Pacers, 120-106. James Harden, who dribbles a lot, had 29 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds. He also dropped Pacers' standout rookie Bennedict Mathurin with a bevy of moves and nailed a wide-open three-pointer. Sixers play-by-play announcer Kate Scott had to break out a bunch of ooohs before asking "Who won the trade?"

"boom." pic.twitter.com/xwmG85ycFB
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 25, 2022

Presumably, that was directed at the 1-2 Brooklyn Nets who struggled with Ben Simmons on Monday night. A funny time to bring it up, but it sounded pretty cool for the local fans watching this jawn on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

After the game Harden said he was just trying not to airball it this time.

James Harden on what goes through his head when he drops a defender (or a defender flops unsuccessfully) and he has an open shot: “A lot of things. The last time I did that, I airballed. I wasn’t trying to airball. I was trying to get the ball on the rim at least.” pic.twitter.com/ymMxin5h3V
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) October 25, 2022

I'm just glad something is finally working out for Philadelphia fans this month.