Harden just joined the 76ers, played in 5 games the team won all, but the honeymoon period is a bit short, in the game of the fiasco against the Nets, Harden played a serious disorder, 17 shots only 3, and then narrowly defeated the Magic at the bottom of the East and then lost to the Nuggets, nearly 3 games and 2 losses, a "grudge game", a "MVP" head-to-head battle, the losses are more critical games, although in the ranking still maintain the third place in the East, but in the current state of the team is certainly not at the level of championship competition.
Against the Nuggets, the 76ers double core is still very good, Embiid 20 shots 11 of 34 points to get 34 points is very efficient, Harden 11 6 to get 24 points, 9 boards and 11 assist quasi-triple-double data, the biggest reason for the team to lose is that no one can give enough help, the 76ers bench have 4 people in the game, a total of 24 shots 4, only got 14 points, the team last attack for Niang in the bottom corner to create a very good vacancy opportunity, unfortunately he failed to hit, the whole game Niang 10 shots only 2, the whole game Niang 10 shots only 2, The Nuggets' bench guard Hyland alone scored 21 points, and the four three-point shots he shot were crucial, sharing the burden for the main force well, and was the key to the team's reversal and victory.
The 76ers' bench weakness is no longer a problem in this game, this season their bench average of only 27.2 points per game ranks 27th in the league, the team does not have a real best "sixth man", for the championship team, the role of the sixth man is very important, he can be a qualified organizer, pinch other substitute players into a whole, or an explosive scorer, with their own strength and opponents to stalemate the score, 76ers without such a player can only suffer from "Harden dependence", Having to accompany the starters and bring benches, need to comb the offense on the court all the time, I thought that coming to the 76ers would get more rest time, but the playing time in the last two games has reached 39 minutes (regular time) unconsciously.
In fact, in the case of full health and can play, the Nets are the most suitable team for Harden, the starting Big Three, and one of the strongest outside threats in the league, Harris, the offense is unbeatable, the bench has been Given Mills as the best sixth man, but with Irving's inability to appear and Harris's season reimbursement, everything has become uncontrollable, Mills was mentioned that the starting lineup hollowed out the offensive firepower of the substitutes, Nash had to increase Harden's playing time, resulting in the recurrence of his hamstring injury, Nash has also been looking for a solution to Harden dependence, in a period of time to discover Thomas, although only a rookie, but his personal offensive skills are very mature, the finishing ability is very strong, to a certain extent to make up for the lack of substitute offense, but with Durant's injury, Harden still lost patience and chose to leave.
Now this insoluble problem is left to Rivers, the 76ers have 13 games to play in the regular season, the team is basically impossible to have personnel changes, in the case of existing personnel, Rivers needs to do a lot of work, let's analyze the following:
First: find a better combination of core players as soon as possible, a balance between Harden's offense and organization, and ensure the continuity of the attack for 48 minutes;
Second: determine the rotation combination, as far as possible not to easily disrupt, so that the players form a good chemical reaction between them, improve the integrity of the team's defense.
Third: Reasonable planning of Harden and Embiid's playing time, regular season records are not important, to ensure that all the team healthy into the playoffs is the key.
Rivers as the championship coach, there is still a deep knowledge of tactics, since Harden joined, it can be seen that he has been constantly trying to change, but Harden and the team run-in time is still too little, sometimes it seems to be very struggling, this season can successfully win the championship must be no better, if not as desired, but also hope that Harden can maintain patience to stay in the 76ers, wait until the tacit understanding between teammates is getting better and better, I believe the team will win the championship.