On April 26, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA playoffs G5, the 76ers lost to the Raptors 88-103 at home, and the big score between the two sides became 3-2. The 76ers have conceded two consecutive innings with a 3-0 lead, and the atmosphere within the team has begun to change.
In today's game, Embiid played more generally. He played 39 minutes, shooting 7-of-15 and had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. After the game, Embiid talked about his play. He said: "My defense today was terrible, especially in the third quarter, there really wasn't anything to explain, I had to do better. ”
Then Embiid turned sharply and pointed the finger at Harden. Embiid said: "Ever since Harden joined the team, I've always wanted him to play more aggressively, he needs to be himself. It's not my job to persuade Harden to take more shots, it's more of Rivers's job, especially when opponents are defending me like I'm doing now. ”
Apparently, Embiid was quite critical of Harden's play. In this game, Harden only made 11 shots, shot 4 sports goals, and achieved 15 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists. In the eyes of many media, Harden has continued the problem of stealth in the key battle.
In fact, Harden's performance throughout the series was average. In the past five games, Ha has only scored 18.4 points on the field, 11.2 points less than the Rockets' playoff scores. The famous Steven A-Smith has commented on Harden in the show. He thinks harden in the Rockets era is gone, and his ability to get rid of the defense is much less than before.
In the past 5 games, Harden has scored the highest score, and the single game is only 22 points. Embiid wants Harden to increase the number of shots and increase aggressiveness on the court, which is also a very reasonable choice. It's just that Harden's current ability and state may not be enough to support him to do these things.