It's been a while since the deal deadline, and Harden, who came to Philadelphia, made his debut. In the game against the Timberwolves, Philadelphia suppressed the opponent all the time, and finally easily defeated the opponent with a huge advantage of 31 points, and the two-game Philadelphia ranked third in the East with a record of 36 wins and 23 losses, and it is worth mentioning that they are only 2.5 wins away from the Heat at the top of the table, which means that they are expected to occupy the top position in the East at the end of the regular season, and Harden's arrival provides a boost to Philadelphia to achieve this result.
Philadelphia showed off its firepower on the offensive end in the first quarter, leading by nine points in the first quarter. But in the second quarter of the game the two teams were in a stalemate, the Timberwolves once chased the point difference to 4 points, this time Harden stepped forward, he first assisted his teammates, and then scored consecutive points, and played the iconic retreat step three points to complete 3+1, leading Philadelphia to a wave of streams to open the point difference, and then in the game Philadelphia continued to expand the score and finally easily defeated the opponent.
Harden's appearance was still more than twenty days ago, but the long-distance battle did not affect Harden's feel, harden played 35 minutes in the whole game, 12 shots hit 7 goals, including 7 of 7 three-pointers, 8 of 9 free throws, 27 points and 8 rebounds and 12 assists, plus-minus +35 game-high. Such a performance also made Harden the only player in the league in one statistic, that is, Harden scored at least 25 points and 12 assists in his debut games for the Rockets, Nets and Philadelphia, and only one player in the history of the league.
Harden, who made his debut, said in an interview after the game: "I think I'm a good teammate. At the same time Harden also expressed his willingness to do anything, we have a common goal, I personally have nothing to prove, as a team as a whole, we still have things to prove. It is clear that Harden means that the team needs to win the championship to prove itself, and Harden's willingness to do anything can show that he is also willing to assist Embead, and the two team up to lead the team to attack the championship.
Embiid, who is at the heart of Philadelphia, continues to be in excellent shape. Embiid shot 10-of-18 in 31 minutes, including 3-of-5 from three-point range and 11-of-13 from the free throw line for 34 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Embiid praised Harden in an interview after the game, saying that Harden has helped the team, he has never had such a big vacancy in his life, really, such a pass, I really did not expect.
The point is embiid also said something with connotation, he said that it will certainly not be difficult to partner with Harden, we did not discuss partnering with players who can't shoot or have flaws on the offensive end, we are talking about Harden, you know what he does with the Rockets and the Nets, he can score, he can average 10 assists per game, he can help the team in all directions, it is not difficult to partner with him at all. This sentence is very interesting, Embiid is obviously in the words, the spearhead is directed at former teammate Simmons, after there were reports that there was a problem between the two.
In addition to winning, Philadelphia also had a windfall. That is, Harden's arrival activated the team's Maxi, as a second-year player Maxi has also performed well this season, but it is clear that his performance this time is significantly different from the past. In the past, Embiid was in the middle of the philadelphia game, and today Harden took on the task of tandem team, delivering 12 assists and only 2 turnovers, which is also the reason for Maxi's outbreak.
Under the control of Harden's outside line, when Maxi feels excellent, the opponent does not dare to pack, to know that there are excellent pitchers such as Harden and Danny Green on the outside line, and Harden can send accurate assists to let Maxi end the attack. Obviously, the arrival of Harden, the core of the organization, has brought a great boost to Philadelphia, and Maxi is an example, his empty cut is often passed by Harden, and Harden can also accurately find him when he runs to the outside line, and hits three points steadily.
To borrow Embiid's words, it's not the strongest of them, they can do better. The article also mentioned earlier that Philadelphia is expected to hit the top of the regular season Eastern Conference, and then we need to see what kind of spark Harden and Embiid will rub and look forward to their performance in the back.