When Philadelphia held a 3-0 lead in the first round, they lost two consecutive games to be chased to 3-2, which was also worrying that Rivers was under the spell of reversal and threatened again. Philadelphia suffered two consecutive defeats not only because Embiid suffered injuries, but also because Harden continued to play a sluggish performance. Now the American celebrity Stephen A-Smith broke the news on the show, saying that the reason Harden played so inefficiently was to force Rivers to leave class, and Harden wanted D'Antoni to coach.
Embiid was in a slump due to an injury to his right thumb and he struggled quite the pitch. Harden's performance was even more sluggish, he gave two consecutive games of 5 of 17 and 4 of 11 crosshairs, and Harden's first round of 5 games, there were 4 shooting crosshairs less than 50%.
If Philadelphia can't bounce back strongly, especially if they lose two more games, they will become the first team in NBA history to take a 3-0 lead to be overturned, then Rivers is likely to lose his job, then considering D'Antoni's relationship with Harden, as well as the general manager of Philadelphia, there is no doubt that D'Antoni is likely to break rivers' coaching job.
On ESPN's First Take show, Stephen A.S. Smith hinted that Harden might give up the series to get Rivers out of the game and allow D'Antoni to coach Philadelphia.
Stephen A.S. Smith makes his point —
Is Harden really that bad? Did he really regress so much? The answer is no. It's just that if Philadelphia doesn't go well in the playoffs this season, rivers will be gone and D'Antoni will be the new coach. Who would most like D'Antoni to be the head coach? We all know that the Philadelphia general manager will be a supporter, and Harden will be a supporter.
If Philadelphia wins and advances, Rivers won't leave class, but if Philadelphia is out of the round, then Rivers is out of class. Harden's current state of mind, perhaps, is that you can talk about his struggles as you please. Am I just saying we can ask this question? Would he really play so inefficiently? I've never seen it. Can you explain it to me?
Harden isn't fully involved in the game at the moment, or he doesn't want to play well because he's not showing passion. Harden is well aware of the remarks about how bad his playoff history is, and the fact that he didn't win a championship. Of course, maybe as Perk said, maybe his hamstring injury hasn't fully recovered, he's not himself physically, and he's not the pinnacle player of the past.
(Text/Drunken Floating Life)