In the first season of the Nets' big three, although the superstar advantage of "Durant, Harden and Irving" was highly anticipated, under the influence of frequent injuries, they only achieved the second round of the playoffs.
And the temporary failure did not make the Nets lose confidence, last offseason, whether it was the team itself, or outside fans, the media - they all firmly believed that under the leadership of the "Healthy Big Three" in the new season, the Nets will be able to make a comeback and "defeat the crowd" to win the championship trophy...
It's just that things are uncertain, and no one expected that Irving was resolutely not vaccinated in the new season, so he was "banned"; Harden also showed relative struggle because of new rules and injuries. Fortunately, after the start of the new season, Durant remained at the superstar level at both ends of the attack and defense, which allowed the Nets to barely squeeze into the top three positions in the East in the first half of the season.
Originally under the leadership of Durant + Harden, the Nets in the new season, although they did not show much dominance, still retained the hope of competing for the title. But after Durant's mid-season injury absence and Irving's recognition of "part-time playing", Harden, who was bent on winning the championship, completely lost patience and chose to join Philadelphia before the end of the trade day.
From Harden's point of view, his departure is understandable - after all, the Nets allow Irving to play away, which is equivalent to acquiescing to his "part-time playing"; plus Durant and Irving have won championships, and their desire for the championship is far less than Harden, so Harden, who feels hopeless for the championship, will leave early...
After joining Philadelphia, after winning all five battles, the "Dengdi Combination" showed its dominance?
After joining Philadelphia, Harden swept away the decadent momentum of the Nets period, averaging 24.6 points per game, 7.6 boards and 12.4 assists, and his personal shooting rate reached 54.1%, and his three-point shooting rate was 43.5%, leading Philadelphia to win all five games. Especially compared to the Nets' 41.2% shooting percentage and 31.5% three-point shooting rate, harden's personal scoring efficiency has improved qualitatively after joining Philadelphia.
Even under harden's organizational tandem, Maxi was successfully activated. In the five games against Harden, Maxi averaged 24.8 points, 3.6 boards and 3.4 assists per game, playing a terrifying efficiency of 60.6% shooting and 63.3% three-point shooting.
And Philadelphia's star Embiid, not only did not have a data decline because of Harden's arrival, but he was more efficient than before. In the five games with Harden, Embiid averaged 32.6 points, 10.8 boards, 3.4 assists, and 49.3% shooting.
In particular, the unblocked demolition between him and Harden can't help but remind people of the scene when the "OK combination" ruled the alliance. After all, Harden's arrival has helped Embiid gain more offensive space and more opportunities to score easily. And when Embiid's efficient performance on the offensive end can also benefit Harden, he can also get easier scoring opportunities...
It is precisely because of the chemistry and dominance shown in the five games of the "Dengdi Combination", so many people think that Philadelphia has a great chance to win the championship in the new season, and even some fans believe that today's "Dengdi Combination" can be comparable to the "OK Combination" at its peak.
However, there are also a small number of relatively "rational" fans who believe that although Harden and Embiid have indeed played a good personal performance and chemistry after joining forces, in fact, they are still difficult to win the championship...
Although the "Dengdi Combination" is full of power, it is still inferior to the "OK Combination"
1) Although Embiid is strong enough, he does not have the dominance of O'Neill. So far in the new season, Embiid has averaged 29.7 points, 11.2 boards, 4.4 assists per game, and 49.2% shooting percentage; coupled with the current team's record of ranking second in the East, it is very likely that he will win both the scoring champion and the regular season MVP trophy in the new season.
And these two honors, in fact, O'Neal as early as the 99-00 season, has been with 29.7 points, 13.6 boards and 3.8 assists, 57.4% shooting percentage performance, and at the same time, he has been awarded.
You know, the league's offensive rounds in the 99-00 season were not as many as they are now, and the three-point shooting ratio was far less than it is now; O'Neal was able to get such an honor at that time because of his dominance on the inside "BUG level"...
Now agile and proficient in three-point Embiid, although he can be called a "super center" in the small-ball era, his personal data is not less than O'Neal's. But he was unable to reach the "BUG level" dominance of O'Neill on the inside, especially in front of Jokic, who did not fully dominate.
2, Harden's key moment scoring ability is far inferior to Kobe Bryant. Harden has won the scoring crown with 30.4 points, 36.1 points and 34.3 points in three consecutive seasons in the regular season. Compared to the two scoring champions of Bryant's career, it seems that Harden's personal scoring firepower is more powerful.
But in fact, although Harden's regular season scoring is as simple as drinking water, and the overall data of the playoffs is not bad, he often "pulls his crotch" in the playoffs - the more critical the number of games, the easier it is for him to play abnormally on the offensive end, thus giving up the upcoming victory...
Otherwise, Harden may have led the Rockets to a successful championship in previous years. Why do you need to give up the position of the boss of the team and join forces with others to pursue the championship?
3, Harden's defensive intensity is far inferior to Kobe Bryant. The reason why the Lakers were able to complete the triple crown at the beginning of the season, in addition to O'Neill's "BUG level" of internal dominance and Kobe's super scoring ability, is more important than Kobe's contribution on the defensive end that year.
At the peak of Kobe's peak, he was selected for the league's first defense nine times with a positive and desperate defensive attitude. Although he did not win the "Best Defensive Player" award due to the limitations of physical talent, kobe bryant's defensive ability at the peak should not be underestimated. Otherwise, with O'Neal's dominance + Kobe's scoring ability, the Lakers may not be able to complete the triple crown...
Harden has always been known as "eye defense", although his attitude has changed now, but his enthusiasm and desperation on the defensive end have never been comparable to the peak Kobe Bryant. That is to say, at present, Harden's offensive performance and overall defensive performance in key games are far inferior to the peak Kobe Bryant.
In summary, in the case that Embiid can't play "absolute dominance" and Harden's offensive and defensive ends are not as good as the peak Kobe Bryant, although they have also played a good data and record performance after joining forces; but now in the East, whether it is the Heat, Bucks, or bulls, Nets and other teams, they are not good stubble. It can be said that it is still a difficult thing for Philadelphia to rely on the "Dengdi combination" to successfully win the championship like the Lakers relied on the "OK combination" in the playoffs this year...