On March 11, Beijing time, the Nets challenged the 76ers away, and this game was also the first meeting between the two major stars to exchange owners, but unlike Simmons, who has not played a game for the Nets so far, Harden has already played 5 games for the team in a 76ers jersey. During this period, he averaged 24.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 12.4 assists per game, helping the team to achieve a record of 5 wins, and today's game against the old club, Harden naturally hopes to lead the new club 76ers to guard his home.
But perhaps a little too nervous, Harden in the first quarter of 6 shots only 1, only 3 points into the account, but was the Nets' old teammate Irving to steal the limelight, the latter in the first quarter can be said to be a complete explosion harden, in the 8 minutes of playing time, 5 shots 4, 3 of 3 three-pointers, easily scored 11 points, and Durant, who also scored 11 points, helped the Nets to achieve a perfect start of 40-23 in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Harden was ruthlessly blocked by James Johnson in the process of a breakthrough layup, and the Nets also took this opportunity to start fighting back, Johnson held the ball after the block, and passed the ball to Irving, who was waiting to shoot, who also "returned" Harden with a three-point shot of quasi-pressure whistle, and at the same time that the three-point shot was hollowed into the bag, Irving also stood still for 3 seconds, which can be said to be completely "loaded".
After Harden left the Nets, "part-time player" Irving also had to take on the responsibility of the backcourt, before today's game with the 76ers, Irving just blasted the season's high 50 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists in the away game against the Hornets, helping the team win, and in an interview with the media after the game, Irving also talked about Harden's situation: "I hope he can get peace and love, our relationship is very good, but our combination has not been able to continue to work together." ”
After the formation of the Big Three in the Nets season, even if Harden, the top two-powered defender of the MVP level, arrived, Irving was not affected too much, although the opportunity to play was limited, he could still hand over the best 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6 assists of his career, if it were not for the ankle injury in the semifinals, Irving's stable play in the playoffs would definitely be better than Harden who dropped the chain again (admittedly, the hamstring injury is also partly due, but Harden has proved many times that he can't fight hard battles in the playoffs).
And this season even if you can only play away games temporarily, but Irving's overall play, is indeed much stronger than Harden, it seems that he and Durant will call more, before today's game with the 76ers, he can average 26.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, three shooting rates to 47.7%, 40.3% and 90.8%, almost can enter the 180 club, it is likely to become a "full-time player" Irving, if you can maintain this hot momentum, It can indeed make Nets fans forget about Harden's departure, because compared to Harden, Irving's play in the playoffs is more stable, and it is rare to have that kind of chain drop.
After playing this game against the 76ers today, the Nets have 15 games to play, and since 2 games are played in Madison Garden Square, Irving can't play, which means that he can only play 4 of them for the Nets, which is indeed a serious challenge for the Nets who aim to impact the top six.