In Embiid's not-so-long career, there aren't many centers who can play him one-on-one. In the early years, Downs could suppress him for a time, but after the rookie season, the Emperor could already complete the Downs, and in the face of several big men at the top of the league today, the Emperor could often have the upper hand in one-on-one time. After all, the height and tonnage are here, coupled with a soft shooting feel and historical footwork and the ability to hold the ball, it is really not so easy to make this giant suffer.
But there is a team that always seems to be able to find a way to limit the emperor, and the Toronto Raptors from the Northern Lands have repeatedly made the emperor have bad memories. Remember the past when Gasol became a member of the Raptors and directly "knelt" the emperor in front of the emperor to let him swallow zero points in a single game? I believe that the emperor's crying face after being killed by Leonard has become the last fragment of his career to remember.
Now, in the face of embiid, the peak of all basketball skills, who have lost Gasol and lost kawaii, the Raptors, who are not the master of the original king, have once again taught the emperor a lesson. In a just-concluded NBA regular season game, the Raptors once again pulled the 76ers off the horse, and they used extreme defense to make Philadelphia's super-giant attackers have no way. And in the first quarter of the big score behind the final successful reversal, but also against Rivers to complete a murderous game.
Embiid still got 21+13 throughout the game, but his 21-point score was ten points less than his 30-point average this season, and after this game, he also dropped his points per game by 0.2 points per game, giving up the league's top scorer. In fact, if it were not for the care of the superstar whistle, Embiid's stats would be even more ugly, he shot a total of 20 times but only hit 6 goals in the whole game, the shooting rate was less than 40%, and in the third quarter of the game, as the best big player in the league, he only got 2 points and 2 rebounds, which was really bleak.
A game may not tell anything, but the numbers don't lie, and since the 2019 Philadelphia 76ers series with the Raptors began, the Raptors have become a lingering nightmare in Embiid's career. Since then, he has only shot 36 percent of the shots against the Raptors and less than 50 percent in 12 of the 15 games he has played against his opponents, and it's important to know that the top interior scorer faces Dang Embiid, who has more than 50 percent of the shots from other teams. It can even be said that Embiid's shooting percentage so far in his career is in large part because of the drag against the Raptors.
Embiid was limited, and philadelphia's other players needed to step up and solve the problem, and Maxi did try to take over the game, but the second-year rookie couldn't do much in the face of the Raptors' s stalking defense. Harden, the former first quarterback who came to assist the Emperor, seems to have entered his own playoff mode. In the crucial fourth quarter, Harden made frequent mistakes, even though Embiid did not feel good, but with the tenacity of the defensive end, the 76ers still retained the suspense of the game until the last minute. With 7 seconds left in the game, the 76ers trailing by just two points and holding the ball in their hands still have the potential to drag the game into overtime or even a deadlock. And The Rivers coach also chose to believe Harden, giving the last chance to attack to the beard.
Originally it was an opportunity to make a name for himself, originally it was the opportunity for the team boss to play a wave of himself and was expected to take away the game, but Harden played it. After his right hand broke through to the basket, facing boucher who came up to make up for it, perhaps it was a habitual instinctive reaction, he did not force the basket to get points, but chose to use an irregular physical contact but sought the referee's whistle. And the elbow he swung was also right in the middle of Boucher's face door, just like many fans ridiculed, Harden's elbow not only gave Boucher a break, but also directly killed the team. In the end, Harden's attack was sentenced to be a first-level malicious foul, which directly killed the team's hope of extinction.
After the honeymoon period with Embiid's previous games, the last 6 games of the 76ers have only played a 3-3 record, Harden and Embiid's combination has also had many problems, both of them are admittedly invincible, but the price paid by Philadelphia in exchange for Harden is too great, almost sending away all the reliable role players on the bench, and Harden's ability to attack in the playoffs and key games has been criticized, and Embiid's chemical reaction can reach tacit understanding at the offensive end. But once a defensive team reaches the adversity that once it reaches the playoffs, the shooting rate of both sides will be reduced, and the 76ers will have a problem.
And if the 76ers can't take advantage of the competition with the Bucks and other teams, then look at the Raptors, who are now seventh in the East, maybe this is the opponent of the 76ers in the first round of the East. And there is no doubt that the emperor, who aspires to impact the championship, may become the biggest loser in the Nets and Philadelphia trade.