76 people also came to the edge of the cliff
The Philadelphia 76ers probably didn't expect that they would once again be in a desperate situation with a 3-0 lead. The Toronto Raptors won two games in a row to rewrite the series to be 2-3 behind, and while the 76ers still maintain the lead, game six of the series will be played at the Raptors' home court. As long as the Raptors hold home, the series will come to Game 7. A team wins three times in a row, a team loses three times in a row, such a state into a seven-game battle, who wins and who loses is self-evident.
That's why the Philadelphia 76ers have come to a desperate situation, and if they can't win the next game, then they will most likely become the first team in NBA history to lead 3-0 in the playoffs and eventually be reversed. Harden's performance as a playoff crotch, coupled with Rivers' title of King of Reversals, seems like nothing is impossible.
Harden Embiid had a different attitude
The 76ers showed a tenacious defense, and with VanVleet injured and unable to play, Nas directly put Barnes in the starting point guard position. It is worth mentioning that in the first game of the series, Barnes stood in the starting center position. In this way, among the Raptors players on the court, the shortest is Trent, but there are also 1 meter 96, and the remaining four players are more than 2 meters tall and have excellent arm spans.
In the face of such a defense, James Harden only shot 11 times, hit 4 goals, and got 15 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 turnovers. In an interview after the game, asked if the Raptors' defense caused him trouble, Harden said stiffly: No, I shot 11 times. As the second boss of the team, a player with a maximum salary, 11 shots in a playoff, I really don't know what to be proud of. In contrast, Embiid was more realistic, doing self-examination directly after the game.
Embiid was plagued by fouls in this game, playing 39 minutes, 20 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists on 7-of-15 shooting, without a single steal or block. Embiid said after the game: "Our defense was too bad, especially in the third quarter, there was nothing to explain, we needed to do better.
Rivers bluntly said that there is still a back move
As for head coach Rivers, that was even more confident, saying bluntly after the game: I don't worry about the state of the team after the losing streak, we have too many reluctant shots in this game, but I know that in the last two games, we still have a block that is useless. In other words, in Rivers' view, the team still has a back move, or the team is not at its best. Harris said the same thing after the game: The 76ers have the secret to winning, but they have not been able to execute in these two games.
So what is the secret of the 76ers' win? First of all, the first point is Maxi. In the past two games, Maxi has shot 4-of-12 and 5-of-14, respectively, completely without the same scenery as the first three games. James Harden's performance throughout the series was there, and the offensive end was really hard to rely on. If Embiid decides the lower bound of this team, then Maxi determines the upper limit of this team. The second point is to limit the Raptors' fast-attack scores, which is the Raptors' killer skill.
In the 3 games lost, the Raptors scored 10, 10 and 13 points, but in the 2 games they won, the Raptors' fast attack score was 21 and 24 points. Whether the Raptors can limit their fast-break scores will be the key to whether the 76ers can win game six.