On May 3, Beijing time, Philadelphia, which lacked Embiid, was ultimately unable to create a miracle in the first round of the first round, and they stubbornly surpassed one point in the first two quarters when they were behind by 14 points in the first half. It was only in the second half that Philadelphia was suppressed again, and gradually widened by the opponents to a 20+ gap, which also announced that they had lost their first Eastern Conference semifinals. Harden was not able to turn on the "Rocket" mode, he only had a sluggish crosshair of 5 of 13, including 2 of 7 three points and 4 of 4 free throws, with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, plus 5 turnovers, unable to lead the team to avoid the fate of losing.
It is worth mentioning that Harden has created a number of playoff career milestones with the help of this data accumulation:
First, Harden ushered in the 144th game of the playoffs, surpassing Lakers star James Worthy, Wolf King Garnett, and former Celtics champion Center Perkins 143 games, tying Reggie Miller and Oakley in 144 playoff games, rising to the NBA playoff history and tied for 51st place, the former being Olajuwon, Nowitzki, Drexler and Korver all 145 games.
Second, Harden's career playoff playoff time exceeded the 5100-minute milestone, becoming the 44th person in playoff history, and surpassing Knicks star Oakley for 5108 minutes to rise to 43rd place in playoff history, the previous being another Knicks star Ewing 5207 minutes.
Third, Harden surpassed former teammate Westbrook with 2321 shots in playoff shooting, rising to 28th in NBA playoff history, the previous James Worthy shot 2329 times, and the former Rings Bill Russell 2335 shots.
Fourth, Harden surpassed Celtics' 6-title legend Bob Curry to play iron 1327 times in the playoffs, rising to 24th in the playoffs, the former being Rings Bill Russell and Glider Drexler both playing 1332 times. Rose to 22nd place in history, the previous being 1343 times the Big Dream Olajuwon hit iron.
When Embiid was determined to miss the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals due to injury, there was no doubt that Philadelphia was generally looked down upon by the outside world, after all, their overall strength was inferior to the Heat due to the lack of Embiid. Although Philadelphia also has Harden, Maxi and Harris, unless Harden turns on the "Rocket" mode and averages 30+ per game to dominate the attack, he is not optimistic that he can lead the team to win.
However, Harden's current decline has made it difficult for him to regain the super offensive power of the past. In this campaign, Harden continued to play iron on 1 of 5 in the first quarter, playing for 12 minutes and only 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 turnovers, Philadelphia is also continuously suppressed by the Heat, no doubt his state is extremely bad.
Of course, Harden picked up in the second quarter, he did not give an assist in the second quarter, but scored 7 points on 3 of 4 in a single quarter, especially at one point to complete a three-point stop and counterattack European step layups to score consecutive points, helping Philadelphia to stubbornly chase points. In the first half, Philadelphia once trailed by 14 points, Harden scored 12 points in the first two quarters, leading Philadelphia 3 people to score in double figures, and also successfully led the team to a first half to surpass by one point.
Only to enter the second half of Philadelphia was once again suppressed, Harden encountered the Heat's siege and defensive limitations, and his offensive decline once again began to decline mode. In the last two quarters of the game, Harden was limited to only 4 of 4 and then scored 4 points, which is undoubtedly extremely sad, Philadelphia was also suppressed by the Heat and gradually fell behind the 20+ gap, and then was powerless to turn over the game and helplessly lost.
(Text/Drunken Floating Life)