The 76ers, who are third in the East, lost to the second-to-last in the East on the road, and the almost desperate Fish belly team Pistons are a big surprise. The first three quarters were very anxious for both sides to play, and the 76ers could not get any benefit from this rotten team, which was already very surprising, and in the second half of the fourth quarter, they were completely hanged, and finally taken away by a wave of flow.
Embiid scored 37 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, which is still the top offensive and defensive performance, MVP level performance. Harris had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks, attacking and defending well, and shooting 6 of 9 from the field was also very efficient, which was difficult to pick. Although Maxi's performance is not amazing, but 5 of 10, scoring 13 points, can also be remarkable. Only Harden, this game again appeared to pull the crotch.
Harden played 38 minutes, only 4 of 15 shots, 2 of 9 outside the three-point line, 8 of 9 from the free throw line, and finally contributed 18 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, the data looks decent, but the state of the whole game is difficult to say. Compared with the last game against the Bucks, it is the difference between heaven and earth, and the ups and downs of the performance are still a big mystery this season.
After the game, some people thought that the 76ers' bench was bad, which led to their final loss, after all, the starting players had already scored 4 double-figures, and the entire bench, 4 players who appeared, only scored 5 points, which was unbearable. For such a performance as the bench, it also attracted the attention of the media after the game.
In an interview, a reporter mentioned the topic of the bench performance struggle, but the elder Rivers did not agree with this view, and also targeted Harden.
Old Rivers said: "Oh, they don't struggle, I say for them, they don't get many shooting opportunities." I think during that time, it was more Harden [playing] than the benches. So you know, yeah, it was a tough night. ”
While defending the bench, the elder Rivers actually ignored Harden's affection and directly targeted Harden, which shows how dissatisfied he is with Harden's performance in this game. In fact, as a star, even if the ability is outstanding, there will be times when the performance is not good, usually the coach will not directly name criticism, but this game, the old man is ruthless, directly criticize Harden, obviously in the past period of time dissatisfaction with Harden's performance is caused by an accumulation of dissatisfaction.
In addition to the recovery of the last game against the Bucks, Harden has been very depressed in the past few games, and the whole mental and physical state is very different from his first five games in Philadelphia. And the 76ers' performance during this time is even worse than they were before trading Harden. Especially when Harden's standing pile style of playing on the court appears frequently, it is not difficult to understand why the elder Rivers directly named.
Lao Li also said in the interview: "On the offensive end, we are standing and watching a lot of times, the opponent has been changing defenses, and we are just standing outside, as a whole, we did not pass the ball, in addition, the team played without a little vitality, this is a difficult game." ”
"A lot of times it's standing and watching", which is a microcosm of the team's game, and of course, a portrayal of Harden in previous games. Harden came to those games in the beginning, he played without the ball a lot of the time, but now, the ball is almost in his hands, in addition to the pass to Embiid can form an assist, the feeding to the outside teammates, is slowly decreasing. And when the teammates can't get the ball after running and cutting in, slowly they don't want to run, and finally they become what the old man said, they all stand and watch.
For the 76ers, if they want to go further in the playoffs, it is obvious that Harden needs to adjust his playing style in time while stabilizing his form, after all, the role players of this team are not bad, they can defeat the Heat when they take Harden and Embiid, they have proved that they have strength, but how to let them participate more in the offense, perhaps the next step of the old Rivers and Harden need to find a way to solve it together.