Sixers’ James Harden, Joel Embiid must make pick-and-roll even better, Doc Rivers says

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Joel Embiid and James Harden quickly established themselves as one of the best pick-and-roll tandems in the NBA last season. Doc Rivers sees room for improvement.

“We’ve got to get better,” the 76ers coach said at the team’s training camp. “I mean, James was only here for [21] games. Even though, statistically, in the … games that we played, James and Joel were the No. 1 pick-and-roll combination, I think they have a long way to go.”

Rivers expects Harden and Embiid to be a dominant force. Right now, he thinks their pick-and-roll pairing is only “really good.”

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So making the necessary improvements is a goal at this week’s training camp at The Citadel.

Rivers wants Harden, a three-time scoring champion, to realize he doesn’t have to carry the scoring load. Harden needs to learn when to pick his spots, recognizing that Embiid is the team’s No. 1 scoring option.

“With James, we’ve got to figure out for him how he can be James and how he can be a great facilitator as well,” Rivers said. “James has never played with a guy in his life that is a better scorer, [with him] being the second option. So that’s something new for James.”

It might not be as new as Rivers says.

In his first three NBA seasons, Harden played with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then he reunited with Durant as a Brooklyn Net for a season-and-a-half before forcing a trade to the Sixers on Feb. 10.

But he definitely was the first, second, and third scoring option for most of his eight-plus seasons with the Houston Rockets.

Harden played as if he still was in Houston in one pick-and-roll play with Embiid this week. De’Anthony Melton, a 6-foot-2 guard, switched to guard the 7-2 Embiid and Harden did not feed the center the ball. He went one-on-one with backup center Montrezl Harrell. Those are things that Rivers does not want to happen.

“That ball’s got to get there,” Rivers said. “He’s got the small guy. But in the past, that may have been James [telling] the guy, ‘Get out. I have an iso.’ James had Trezz on him. Joel had De’Anthony. We’re throwing it to Joe, you know?”

So the Sixers are intent on working on that this week. But Rivers realizes there will be times when Harden will have it going in games and will be better off looking for his shot.

“That’s why they have to feel each other out,” Rivers said. “You can see them both not knowing what to do on that. So those are the things that they will get better at.”