Eastern Strong 76ers lost to the Pistons 94-102, suffered a three-game losing streak, Embiid tried his best to get 37 points and 15 rebounds, Harden fell into a slump again to get 18 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, 76 people were taken away by the Pistons at the last moment, becoming the focus of the fans' hot discussion, and compared to the win or lose, the bench problem has always plagued the team, the 76ers' bench only scored 8 points, and the Pistons bench scored 39 points, the difference in bench scores was 31 points, in such a glued game, becoming a winner and loser, After the game, Rivers didn't complain about the sluggish bench players, he blamed more of the problem on Harden.
Rivers was interviewed after the game and talked about the team bench, he said: "The game we played very difficult, the opponent has been changing defenses, but we have been standing outside, as a whole we have not passed the ball, the team has no vitality at all, if it is not relying on 20 free throws in the first half, it is difficult for us to resist the opponent's attack, the team's substitute performance is not struggling, I want to defend them, because they did not get many shooting opportunities, that time is Harden playing, not the substitute is playing, So you know, it's a tough game.
Whether Rivers said that the team passed the ball problem, or stood on the outside line and did not relax, the problems mentioned were Harden's frequent problems, and the bench did not have the right to shoot, the main reason was because Harden was in control of the ball, not the substitute, Rivers summed up so much, in a word, the team lost, it is completely Harden's problem, as the head coach, he is arranged in place, the players just did not execute. Rivers was a complete act of "throwing the pot".
Harden did not play well, but his shots were only 15 times, ranking second in the team, the game was second only to Embiid's 19 times, but Harden's shooting was relatively sluggish, only 15 shots were 4 of 15, 9 of 2 of three points, and did not play the role of a superstar at all, saying that Harden has been playing, did not pass for the bench, he had 7 assists in the whole game, the highest on the team, or at this time Rivers has been dissatisfied with Harden, his slow and leisurely attitude on the court is indeed not the situation that Rivers wants to see, But this harden has played like this before in the Rockets and Nets period, why didn't Harden criticize him before he came?
The team suffered three consecutive defeats, tactical execution ability is insufficient, can change players, let the capable players get more tactics, as for Harden, he is here to fight for the championship, but he fell too seriously, has lost the style of the past, as a head coach should know the advantages and disadvantages of the players, Rivers as the champion coach should have a certain right to speak, let Maxi, Harris more shots, it is also possible, Harden let him do a good job of defense and organizational offense on the line. And the team bench problem has always existed, after the departure of Little Curry and Drummond, the team bench scoring is very difficult, which everyone knows that there is no need to say it.
Now that Rivers said it, which directly exacerbated the internal contradictions of the 76ers, what would Harden think? What would Embiid think? Their goal this season is the championship, at the end of the regular season, there is such a problem, it is not at all what fans want to see, Harden has indeed reached the time to prove himself, you leave the Rockets, join the Nets, join the 76ers, all to compete for the championship, why not behave like this, how can you not let the fans on the scene boo everywhere? For the next big contract, you need to work harder than Embiid.