In the first game of the playoffs, the 76ers faced the regular season bitter Raptors, and multi-point blossom easily won a 20-point victory, rewriting the series score to 1-0.
In addition to winning the opening red, the 76ers also found a trick to completely contain the Raptors in this game, that is, to reduce the occurrence of mistakes as much as possible, and the whole team only played 4 mistakes in the whole game.
Among them, Harden is naturally the key to leading this transformation, sending 14 assists in the whole game, only one mistake, and Maxi also bombed 38 points under Harden's tandem.
Such a 20-point victory naturally swept away the previous doubts about the 76ers, Harden also accepted the reality after the game, Embiid revealed his heart, and Maxi publicly ridiculed Harden.
The first is Harden, who played 40 minutes, 6 of 17 shots, and scored 22 points, 5 boards, 14 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, and he praised Maxi who was interviewed together in the first time after the game.
Admit that Maxi's performance is really fantastic, he provides the competitive spirit needed to play, knows what he needs to do, and constantly strives for it, he just wants to help him as much as possible and give him the opportunity to make an easy shot.
Harden then quipped, "He's fast, I've been in the league for 13 years, and it's not that fast anymore." ”
Although it is a joke, in fact, it also tells the reality of Harden's current situation, he is 33 years old, has suffered hamstring injuries in the past few seasons, coupled with the Nets and Philadelphia, the outside world still hopes that he can hand over the Rockets' MVP-level performance, which is obviously unrealistic.
Fortunately, Harden accepted the reality of the decline in the ability of the body, but also knew that with age, his own advantages have become experience and organization, and it may not be a good choice to complete the transformation after joining Philadelphia.
It is not difficult to see from this game that even if Harden's offensive ability has declined, he still plays an irreplaceable role in the 76ers, and even surpasses Embiid in strategic value.
Harden is the only player on the 76ers to play more than 40 minutes, and the reason is simple, Rivers hopes that Harden can control the situation, so that the 76ers can always suppress the Raptors and completely dismantle the opponent's offensive and defensive system.
To this end, Rivers publicly praised Harden after the game, admitting that when Harden came on, the players always delivered better continuity, which is something worthy of praise.
It is worth mentioning that this is the 99th playoff victory of Rivers' coaching career, and the equalizer "Cardinal" Auerbach rose to fifth in history, and fourth place Larry Brown had 100 wins.
In addition to Rivers, the team's core Embiid also praised Harden, revealing his heart in a post-game interview.
Embiid said that the cooperation between himself and Harden is very relaxed, the two have had a lot of communication, the relationship is very close, and he believes that Harden will be able to make the right choice when he appears on the court.
Embiid's remarks are not only a public endorsement of Harden, but also a disguised attempt to break some of the rumors about discord between the two, especially some rumors that Embiid prefers to cooperate with Bill rather than Harden.
Compared with embiid and Rivers' praise, Maxi's voice highlights the intimate relationship between him and Harden, and after Harden said that he played for 13 years, Maxi directly ridiculed: "Brother, you are old."
After Harden joined, Maxy is undoubtedly the biggest winner, and the same is true of this game, with harden's assists, Maxie shot 14 of 21, cut 38 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, breaking a number of team records.