Last season, the Nets sat on the luxurious big three lineup of "Durant + Harden + Irving", but due to injury, they fell back in the playoffs and only got the bad results of the second round.
I thought that the loss of last year's playoffs would completely stimulate the desire to win and lose in the hearts of the big three, who had thought that the new season of the Nets was not as good as last season. At the beginning of the season, Irving was "banned" because of restrictions on vaccines, Harden's "epic decline", and Durant was injured again, and the Nets even fell out of the top eight in the East at one point...
So in the new season, because of "the team manager's lack of coaching ability, Duou's long absence from the game, the team's overall record is not good" and other factors, coupled with the Nets' prospects for winning the championship are getting darker and darker, hardened who wants to win the championship, has the idea of leaving the Nets.
After all, compared with Durant and Irving, harden, who is now 32 years old, has not stood on the stage of the Finals, nor has he "tasted" the taste of the championship. In the end, the Nets traded hardened him to Philadelphia before the closing of the trading day...
"Ma Daha" joined forces with the honeymoon period to help Philadelphia win all five battles
After Harden joined Philadelphia, he and Embiid and Maxi soon ushered in a "honeymoon period". In the first five games of the trio, Ha was able to shoot down 24.6 points, 7.6 boards, 12.4 assists, 54.1% shooting rate + 43.5% three-point shooting rate.
Compared with the bad offense of the Nets (41.2% shooting rate + 31.5% three-point shooting rate), Harden's personal offensive performance after coming to Philadelphia can be called "reborn". And Harden's arrival has not weakened Embiid's influence, in the first five games he and Embiid have joined forces, Embiid can still average 32.6 points, 10.8 boards and 3.4 assists per game, and 49.3% shooting MVP performance.
Even the unknown Maxi, with the help of Harden, also played a super efficient performance of 24.8 points, 3.6 boards, 3.4 assists, 60.6% shooting rate + 63.3% three-point shooting rate. And in the "honeymoon period" of Harden, Embiid and Maxi, they joined forces to usher in a total victory in the first five battles...
Even if the recent defeat to the Nuggets and Nets, "Dengdi United" still has eight wins and six wins
But just when "Ma Daha" won all five games and was regarded as one of the favorites for the new season's championship, Durant and Irving led the Nets and poured cold water on them.
In the high-profile key battle between Philadelphia and the Nets, Harden shot 3 of 17 in a single game, and only got 11 points, 6 boards and 5 assists. While Harden is not doing well, Maxi and Embiid are no longer magical.
They only shot 2 of 7, 4 points, 1 board, 1 assist, 17 shots, 5 of 17, 27 points, 12 boards and 2 assists, and finally in front of the Nets' efficient offense (56.0% vs 32.3%), Philadelphia lost to the Nets 100-129. After losing to the Nets, the Philadelphia "Ma Daha" combination also lost its original "magical" attribute.
In the recent Philadelphia vs Nuggets game, although Porter Jr. and Murray have not been able to return, Jokic needs to face the two superstars of Harden + Embiid alone. But Jokic did not get caught up in a "single fight", and led by his 22 points, 13 boards and 8 assists, the Nuggets scored in double figures to beat Philadelphia, who had been in general condition recently, 114-110.
In the two games after the loss to the Nets, Harden only had an offensive performance of 5 of 19 and 6 of 11, Maxi 4 of 10, 7 of 13, Embiid 9 of 28 and 11 of 20. Although the "Ma Daha" combination has joined forces for the past three games, the overall attack is not too "crotch", but now that they have joined forces, it is no longer difficult to play the "amazing performance" in the first five games.
However, although Philadelphia has recently lost to the Nets and the Nuggets, in fact, in the eight games of the "Denti Team", they still achieved eight games and six wins. But even if the "Deng Emperor joined forces" to win eight battles and six victories, in the eyes of clear-eyed people, Philadelphia is still difficult to win the championship this year...
So, why is it that "Dengdi joined forces" to win eight games and six victories, and Philadelphia is still not optimistic about winning the championship this year?
1, always stealth in key games, Harden lacks the ability to fight hard battles. In fact, whether it is the Rockets period to resist the "cosmic brave", or the Nets period with injuries against all the Bucks, Harden's performance in key games, it is always difficult to be satisfied.
For example, in the battle of focus a few days ago, although Harden hit a three-pointer quickly at the beginning, harden was completely "lying flat" in the face of the Nets' indiscriminate bombardment - only 3 of 17 shots in a single game, and 10 of 0 of two-pointers.
This is not the first time that harden has seen this situation, whether it is the Rockets period, the Nets period, or now after joining Philadelphia - Harden can always get very good statistics in regular games, but he is always prone to withstand the pressure in focus battles or key games, so as to play abnormally on the offensive end.
2. After the introduction of Harden, philadelphia's overall lineup lacked depth. At the beginning, in order to win Harden, Philadelphia paid curry, jordan, simmons and other chips; jordan, simmons and other chips; jordan jr. and Simmons aside, after Curry jr. left, it did make Philadelphia's rotation of offensive firepower decline a lot.
For example, in the recent game between Philadelphia and the Nuggets, Philadelphia's starting lineup totaled 32 of 60 shots, shooting 96 points from 53.3 percent; but the bench only shot 4 of 24, with only 14 points + 16.7 percent shooting. Otherwise, even if the overall performance of the Nuggets is good, after the lack of Porter Jr. and Murray, as long as Philadelphia plays normally, it is not difficult to win the Nuggets.
3, Harden and Embiid, lack Durant's indomitable leadership temperament. Some people say that in terms of Durant's playing style, he is not a qualified "team core". However, in terms of team leadership ability and actual performance, Durant is far ahead of most stars in the league.
During last year's playoffs, when the Nets were in trouble, when Irving was absent, Harden, Griffin and others could not contribute much, when the Nets were determined not to be able to advance, it was Durant who stood up and used the "super god" performance to help the team "escape from death" again and again...
Judging from the leadership ability and individual offensive and defensive ability shown by Harden and Embiid in the past, they are not inferior to Durant in all aspects. But whether it is Harden or Embiid, compared to Durant's "obsession" with victory, they are more rational, and it is difficult to maintain a consistent attitude when they know that the team is difficult to win.
In summary, Harden's lack of hard-fought ability, the lack of team bench depth, and the lack of indomitable leadership of the "Dengdi combination" will not cause Philadelphia to enter the playoffs. But once in the playoffs, when there is a seven-game battle, or a big score of 2-3, 1-2 behind, the "Dengdi Combination" will be difficult to lead Philadelphia to continue to qualify, or even win the championship...