On April 19, the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Raptors 112-97 at home, and the series score has led 2-0. In this game, the 76ers were 1 point behind in the first quarter, the second quarter broke out strongly, surpassing the Raptors by 15 points, the 76ers' lead at the end of the third quarter has widened to 22 points, and the Raptors played a wave of 15-0 in the last quarter, and the point difference was narrowed, but the 76ers stabilized the opportunity and immediately returned a wave of 8-0, they did not give the opponent any chance, to win. The big three of the 76ers in this campaign have all performed well, with Embiid cutting 31 points, 11 rebounds and double-doubles, Maxi 23 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists quasi-triple-doubles, Harden 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks as the strongest assist.
Leading 2-0 in the series while defending the home field, the 76ers have great hopes of advancing, according to statistics, in the 7-game 4-7 series, the team that leads 2-0 will have a 92.6% chance of advancing, so the current 76ers are indeed closer to the Eastern Conference final four.
A scene in the final stage of the game was notable, when Embiid and Raptors coach Nas were chatting on the sidelines, when there were only 25 seconds left in the final quarter, and the winner was almost determined in advance.
Nass talked about talking to Embiid and restoring the logarithm of the time, saying: "Embiid told me at the time that if you continue to foul me, I will hit all the free throws. I said, well, maybe you can do it. "In the end the Raptors didn't have free throws and the game ended between garbage time.
After the game, skipp angrily rebuked Harden, who shot 3 of 9, including 1 of 4 three-pointers, 7 of 8 free throws, 14 points, 6 boards, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and 0 points in the second half. Skip said Harden faced a semi-crippled Raptors with only 3-of-9 shooting and five turnovers, and the 76ers couldn't count on Harden at key moments.
Skip's evaluation is not objective, to know that Harden's role after coming to the 76ers is reversed, he is not a simple scorer in the Rockets period, when Maxi and Embiid are in good shape, Harden has become the strongest auxiliary. Contributing 6 boards and 6 assists, while the defensive end Harden also did a good job, taking 3 steals and 2 blocks, such data should not be ignored, Harden's defensive ability has also improved significantly, and he has worked harder in the game, but not as good as his peak in scoring.
So the probability of the 76ers advancing to the playoffs of the Eastern Conference Final Four becomes very high, followed by 2 consecutive away games, once the 76ers continue to win, they are very likely to eliminate or even directly sweep the Raptors, so the next two games, whether the Raptors can defend the home, is also a big point of view.