The NBA's first round of playoff competition continued, the 76ers sat at home to meet the Raptors, in the G1 scramble, the 76ers easily won a 20-point victory, a series start, a big score 1-0 lead.
Judging from the G1 team showdown, the suspense of this series is small, as long as the 76ers control the mistakes and rebounds and drag the Raptors into the position war, then the Raptors have almost no room for resistance.
Of course, all this still depends on Harden's state, and the adjustment of the Raptors coaching staff is also worth looking forward to.
As soon as the game began, the Raptors swept away the haze of a big loss, and under the leadership of VanVleet, they made a perfect start of 8-0.
But the 76ers, led by Harden and Embiid, responded quickly, during which the two teams would fight each other, with Embiid and Siakam almost starting a hug, and Anunoby clashing with Embiid.
Strong physical confrontation made Embiid frequently stand on the free throw line, 12 free throws in a single quarter, 11 of 19 points and 3 rebounds, but the Raptors still relied on multi-point blossom performance, took a 1-point lead in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the 76ers suddenly found a feel on the outside, and Danny Green, Maxi and Harris hit three consecutive three-pointers, not only completing the rebound, but also establishing a double-digit lead in one go.
Harden then led the team to an offensive climax in the late second quarter, and the Raptors fell into a mute, and by the end of the half, the 76ers had led by as many as 15 points.
Embiid, Harris and Maxi took turns to attack, and the Raptors completely collapsed, and the point difference was stretched to 20 points.
Although the Raptors felt better at the end of the quarter, playing on the offensive end, the 76ers already had a huge lead of 24 points in the third quarter.
Entering the final quarter of the scramble, the huge lead made the 76ers a little slack, and the point difference was forced to be only 11 points behind, but fortunately, the 76ers adjusted their state in time.
Maxi hit a crucial three-pointer, Harris and Embiid icing on the cake, and finally beat the Raptors 112-97 easily, and the big score reached 2-0.
Throughout the game, the 76ers once again crushed the Raptors, and philadelphia's three top scorers were in a hot state, giving Harden the confidence to transform.
Harden played 41 minutes, shot only 9 shots, hit 3 of them, and got 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
If you look at the data alone, it is inevitable to misunderstand Harden's performance, thinking that he is not performing well in this game, in fact, Harden shot 3 of 6 at half-time, handing over 14 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 breaks and 2 hats of all-round data.
It was at Harden's instigation that the 76ers firmly suppressed the Raptors in the first half and successfully established a huge lead.
The fiery state of the three top scorers next to Harris, Maxi and Embiid also gave Harden the confidence to devote more energy to the organization.
After the game, Maxi bombed 23 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, Harris also had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, plus Embiid with 31 points and 11 rebounds and Green with 11 points and 3 assists, Harden did have the courage not to score high.
Especially after the big score lead, Harden's attitude in the second half obviously changed, so the overall data of Harden in the second half not only did not improve, but there were a lot of mistakes.
Embiid, too, rebounded strongly after the previous slump, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the Raptors on the inside, shooting 9-of-16 from the field and scoring 31 points and 11 rebounds.
Like Harden, after helping the team set the tone in the first half, Embiid's state and concentration in the second half also declined seriously, but the gap between the two teams was too large, and finally the 76ers easily closed the game and changed the score to 2-0.