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Doc Rivers wants James Harden to be ‘a scoring Magic Johnson’

James Harden will have to adjust to a different role that he is accustomed to on the 76ers. The former NBA MVP is used to being the go-to scorer for his team, but in Philadelphia that role belongs to Joel Embiid.

Sixers’ head coach Doc Rivers envisions Harden as being ‘a scoring Magic Johnson.’ Instead of just focusing purely on scoring, he wants the 33-year-old superstar to also be the team’s facilitator.

Via Paul Kasabian of Bleacher Report:

“I think we’ve talked so much about him being a facilitator … but I need him to be James Harden too,” Rivers said. “If I had to combine, I would say a scoring Magic Johnson, I don’t know … but that’s what I want him to be.

“I want him to be a James Harden, but in that, I want him to also be the facilitator of this basketball team too. So in a lot of ways, his role is growing bigger for our team, and I just want him to keep thinking, ‘Do both.'”

Harden saw his scoring drop a little since he joined the 76ers compared to what he was scoring for the Nets. Last season he averaged 21 points, 7.1 rebounds and 10.5 assists in 37.7 minutes per game for Philadelphia.

His numbers for the Nets were 22.5 points, 8 rebounds and 10.2 assists in 37 minutes per game.

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