The star's first battle against the old master is a very exciting drama. Think of that year, Durant played the old owner Thunder for the first time, cut 39 points and led the team to win; James played the Cavaliers in the first game, with a performance of 38 points to lead the team to win; Iverson's first game against the 76ers, also cut 38 points, and his team also laughed to the end.
However, after Harden left the Nets, the first game of the old owner was "frustrated" and played an extremely bad game.
Before the Nets, Harden after changing teams was called a spring breeze. In the first five games after joining the 76ers, Harden was almost seamless with the team, averaging 24.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 12.4 assists per game, shooting 53.1% and 44.8% from the field and three-point range, respectively. For comparison, Harden played for the Nets in 44 games, averaging 22.5 points, 8 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, shooting and shooting only 41.4% and 33.2% from three-point range.
However, in Harden's first game against the old home Nets, his performance can be described as two people in the previous few games, which is eye-popping.
In the first offensive round of the game against the Nets, Harden's pass was intercepted by Durant, which was a boring kick at the beginning, which was also the beginning of his bad performance. The first shot against the Nets was tragically blocked by Irving. It wasn't long before Harden shot with his good retreat step, but failed to hit. Throughout the first half, the former scoring champion Harden sleepwalked on the offensive end, was blocked by Irving twice, in addition, he was blocked by James Johnson twice, and also ate the "hot pot" sent by Clarkston and Durant, and was hatped as many as 6 times in the half. Harden's state on the offensive end is evident.
Throughout the game, Harden did not find a good way on the offensive end, shooting only 3 of 17, only 2 free throws, only 11 points, 4 turnovers, plus-minus and 5 of 17 Embiid, -30. As the core of the team, Harden and Embiid have also been used by some fans to play against the former "OK combination" because of their outstanding performances in the previous few games. But both played poorly against the Nets, trailing the Nets by 36 points at their peak with the 76ers and eventually suffering a 29-point defeat.
Half-time was covered 6 times, only 3 of 17 shots, plus-minus -30, the team lost by 29 points. Harden was also questioned for his performance. Barkley commented unceremoniously: "Harden has such a reputation that he struggles in all the key games. You can look back, even when he was with the Rockets, and look at those years of Fire Wars. Before Paul was injured, the Rockets were still ahead of the Warriors, and it was Paul who led the team forward. To be fair, Harden is undoubtedly a great player, he's great, but in key moments, he always performs badly. ”
Indeed, as Barkley said, Harden is a great player. Won the regular season MVP, 3 times to become the scoring king, 1 time to win the assist king, cut 60 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists of the "super triple double", is also the first player in the NBA to get at least 50 + 15 + 15 in a single game (against the Knicks, 53 points, 16 rebounds and 17 assists), he has won a lot of honors, but also left many wonderful moments on the court.
However, at key moments, Harden's performance has always been unconvincing. Playing for the Nets last season, hardened 5-of-17 in the playoffs against the Bucks. In the 19-20 season with the Thunder,000,although the team won, Harden shot only 4 of 15 shots, and in the semifinals and lakers' series, there was a 21-of-1 situation. In the 17-18 season, he lost to the Warriors in the seventh game, and Harden shot 12-of-29 in that game. In the 16-17 season, the game eliminated by the Spurs, Harden scored only 10 points on 2 of 11, made 6 turnovers and 6 fouls. In the 14-15 season, the game eliminated by the Warriors, 2 of 11, scored 14 points and made 12 turnovers. Impressive, and the wonderful hat that was given by veteran Guinubili at a critical moment.
To be fair, Harden has played many wonderful games, but compared to the wonderful games he played, his performance in key moments is indeed inferior, and he still needs to prove that he is also MVP level in key moments. So far, Harden's performance at key moments, it is indeed not wrong to be spat at by Barkley that "the big war is not OK".