Nets 132-121 Hornets
The Nets, who have struggled in their recent form, have finally cleared the haze with a big win, which allowed them to take a good mental state to meet the focus battle with the 76ers.
At the deal deadline this year, Philadelphia and Brooklyn caused a blockbuster, with two superstars unhappy with their respective situations swapping owners. Friday's match will be the first time the two sides will meet after the deal, and the significance of the game is not as simple as revenge on each other.
Ice and fire
Both the Nets and 76ers are teams aiming for the championship, but both have been distracted by off-court conditions this season, casting a shadow over the prospect of winning the title.
The Nets fell from the Eastern Conference first to the playoff zone because of Kyrie Irving's vaccine incident and Kevin Durant's knee injury, which frustrated Harden, who was infinitely eager for a championship, and moved the idea of leaving. The 76ers are forced by Simmons to lead the whole season by Embiid, and although the performance is acceptable, it is obviously not really competitive to maintain the status quo.
So on the closing date, the two sides reached an agreement to complete the two all-stars who were already absent-minded, and also let themselves have a "way of life". However, after the trade, the on-field performance of the two teams was obviously different, which can be described as "ice and fire".
The Nets have just suffered a wave of four consecutive losses before today's victory over the Hornets, with 3 wins and 17 losses in the past 20 games, and the record in the same period is only slightly better than that of the Rockets, who are 21st in the league in offensive efficiency and 29th in the league in defensive efficiency. After completing a trade with the 76ers, their record is 3-8. As of today, the win rate has fallen below 50% (32 wins and 33 losses), ranking ninth in the East.
The Nets' recent difficulties in performance and ranking are not entirely due to Harden's trade, but it also has something to do with trades. In the 11 games since the trade, Durant and Irving have played only two games due to injury recovery and vaccine ban, and only Monday's match against the Green Army, which is an important reason why they are difficult to win. But on the other hand, Simmons has never made his debut on the grounds of a back injury, which has also made the Nets worse.
After all, the Nets sent their organizational core, the league's top ten superstars, although Seth Curry and Andre Drummond immediately entered the starting lineup and performed well, they are not the protagonists of the trade after all, nor are they really players who can "change the game".
Nash said in an interview before the game today that he was not sure when Simmons would return, and according to previous information, after the game with the 76ers, the "big boy" will start practicing with the team. Before he officially returns to the court, the Nets will have some wins like today's, but it is unlikely that they will climb the rankings significantly.
On the other hand, Harden is in Philadelphia, where he and Embiid's super duo have so far won and are currently the hottest team in the league.
Harden went on to miss four games with a hamstring injury after being traded to Philadelphia, and didn't make his official debut until after the All-Star. In the first game for the new owner, Harden played a gorgeous statistic of 27 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists, winning the opening red, and then contributed 29 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists in the game against the Knicks.
In the five games he has played for the 76ers so far, Harden has averaged 24.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 12.4 assists per game with 53.1 percent shooting and 44.8 percent three-point shooting, and only 2.8 turnovers. What's more, the 76ers won all five games, and when he and Embiid were on the floor at the same time, the team won 30.7 points per 100 rounds!
Harden's fiery connection with Embiid quickly brought them on a par with the combination of Kobe Bryant and O'Neal, and whether they can truly become a great duo like OK will have to go through the test of the playoffs, but for now, everything looks good.
Can't lose the battle
Harden originally came to Brooklyn for the dream of a championship, but the big three only worked together for a total of 16 games, and then parted ways. All kinds of news show that although their final breakup did not set off any bloody storms, the process was obviously not pleasant.
Harden wants to leave the Nets for his reasons, and the Nets, to some extent, have a sense of being "turned away". So emotionally, they definitely want to prove themselves with a win.
But saying that the battle against the 76ers is a game that the Nets can't lose is not the most critical reason.
The Nets today took the Hornets with Irving's 50-point performance to stop the recent losing streak, but the crisis they face has not been completely lifted. To avoid the fate of playing the playoffs, they still have to go all out and win every possible victory.
Today's Nets played the Hornets, a key card battle, the first two teams of the record is exactly the same, the Hornets with the advantage of the game record in the East eighth. So after the Nets won, they temporarily surpassed their opponents in the standings.
But for the Nets to get out of the playoffs, the goal is to catch up with the sixth-place Cavaliers in the East, who currently have a 33-33 record and a full 5.5 wins between the Cavaliers who just beat the Pacers today (38-27).
With the last 16 games left in the regular season, the Nets have only six away games left to play, counting the 76ers. As it stands, New York City's easing of vaccine policy has not yet benefited the Nets, which means that at least 10 of the Nets' remaining 16 games will have to be played without Irving.
Irving's off-court issues aside, just his influence on the playing field, today's game has said it all. Without him, the Nets want to close the 5.5-game gap in 16 games without any negligence.
Playing the Hornets today, the Nets established a big lead early, and the difference in points on the court reached 34 points, but they were chased slightly in the final quarter and a half, wasting a good opportunity to boost morale. And if the next game can beat the recent hot 76ers and win consecutive games, it will definitely play an important role in the team's reversal of decline.
From this point of view, this ball must also be won.
More than just revenge
Harden has experienced three team changes in his career, and there is a "glorious tradition" of changing teams such as getting a new life and striking hard at his old club.
On March 4, 2021, Harden returned to Houston for the first time since being traded to the Nets by the Rockets, playing 40 minutes and 53 seconds, shooting 10 of 15, scoring a big triple-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists, leading the Nets without Durant to a 18-point victory. This time on behalf of the 76ers to play the Nets, I believe he will not be ruthless.
However, this game, for the 76ers, is not just Harden's "revenge war", it may also be related to the ownership of two honors.
As of today, the 76ers are second in the East with 40 wins and 24 losses, three games behind the first division Heat (44 wins and 22 losses). With Harden and Embiid in their recent hot spots, in theory, they certainly have a chance to hit each other's top spot.
However, the 76ers are fierce, and the Heat is not weak. This season in Butler, Adebayo have been suspended for a long time due to injury, Lowry because of family matters twice took leave of absence, there are always people in the team can stand up, currently ranked first in the East, relying on absolutely not luck.
The Heat experienced a three-game losing streak in early February, but in the 14 games since then, they have a record of 12 wins and 2 losses. More critically, as the season draws to a close, the Heat personnel are gradually getting together, playing the Rockets yesterday, not only Lowry returned to the team, but also Oladipo, who has been injured for almost a year, has finally ushered in his season debut.
Over the next few weeks, they will be led by Spollstra, one of the "15 GreatEst Coaches of History", and continue to tighten the clockwork and start the final sprint.
In order to catch up with or even surpass such an opponent, the 76ers need to redouble their efforts, so they are not allowed to lose anything like the Nets. This is not only about whether they can eventually get the first place in the East, but it may also have a direct impact on Embiid's impact on MVP.
The NBA doesn't have a clear standard for the selection of regular season MVPs, but in general it takes into account both personal data and team performance. Embiid's two main current rivals are the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In terms of data performance, Jokic is still one of the better of the three players, in addition to the beautiful basic data, he has a clear advantage in high-level data that reflects the influence of the game, such as victory contribution value (WS%), true plus-minus value (BPM), and irreplaceable value (VORP), but the Nuggets have a relatively bad record due to injury. Embiid' chances of winning a lot if he becomes the star of the divisional champions.
In the competition with the alphabet brother, the record will have a more direct impact. Today's Bucks beat the Thunder, the record improved to 41 wins and 25 losses, although the winning percentage is slightly behind the 76ers' 40 wins and 24 losses, but the win difference between the two sides has been completely wiped out, so the result of a game will make the positions of both sides turn.
Embiid has no obvious advantage over the alphabet brother in the data performance, if the team is ranked behind, if he wants to win the first MVP trophy of his career, the suspense can be great.
So playing the Nets is important not only for Harden, but also for Embiid and even for the entire 76ers.