Harden's moment of horror finally came belatedly.
Philadelphia's life-and-death battle against the Raptors, from a 3-0 lead to a 3-2 situation, they can no longer afford it. Harden and Embiid must end their opponents in this game, otherwise the night will be long and dreamy, and the future will be overshadowed.
Since Harden left the Rockets, the MVP-level superstar has slowly fallen into the mortal world and become an ordinary-level star. In the first five games of the series, Harden's performance was very flat, his highest score was 22 points, and the most assists were 14, but in that G1 debut, he only shot 6 of 17.
In the previous 5 games, Harden has once again become a laughingstock. The regular season is fierce, the playoffs are in place pestle, and the curse of pulling the crotch at key moments began to become the mainstream after the Raptors pulled two consecutive innings. But in this crucial battle, Harden rarely returned to himself and recreated the moment of terror.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Harden's aggressiveness was significantly different from before, he sent assists in a row, let Embiid cut inside the line, and let Harris shoot three-pointers. At 8 minutes and 56 seconds, Harden rushed into the inside line and faced Siakam's one-arm dunk. With 10 points and five assists on 3-of-4 shooting in a single quarter, the data freak seems to be back.
In the second quarter, Harden suddenly began to be invisible again, which makes people worry, is Harden just a flash in the pan? In the second half, Harden suddenly stormed away, leading the team to set off an offensive frenzy. He scored five points in a row and assisted Maxi's three-point shot twice, leading the team to a 19-2 frenzy. Since then, Philadelphia has held a huge 20-point difference, and the series has basically ended early.
At 3 minutes and 52 seconds, Harden single-handedly shook his opponent with the ball, and then performed his signature stunt - a two-step retreat three-point shot. The final quarter score difference grew wider and wider, and Harden once again became invisible and retreated into the background. Compared with the Rocket superstars who killed everywhere in that year, Harden's state is indeed not as good as that year, but in terms of mentality, experience and skills, Harden is more mature and stable.
Strictly speaking, there haven't been many scary moments this season that belong to Harden. Philadelphia wants to hit the championship all the way, and Harden needs to continue to strengthen his aggressiveness. For a superstar of Harden's level, only the championship can clear the doubts.