On May 3, Beijing time, the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Philadelphia lost 92-106 to the Heat, encountering a black opening. In the absence of embiid, the team's number one star, Harden alone failed to give the team a victory. Philadelphia's three-point shooting percentage was very bad, with less than 20 percent of 6 of 34 shooting. The team also collapsed completely in the final quarter, and eventually suffered a big defeat. Harden had 5 of 13 of 13, 16 points, 5 assists and 5 turnovers, which was a sleepwalking.
In this game, Embiid was absent due to concussion and orbital fractures. But on the Heat side, the main controller Lowry also truceed due to injury. Harden leads the team alone for the first time in this year's playoffs, which is also the best opportunity to test his stardom. Unfortunately, Harden's performance in this game was disappointing, and in the absence of Embiid, Harden proved that he was slipping too fast and was no longer a superstar.
In the whole game, Harden made 5 of 13, 2 of 7 three-pointers, scored only 16 points, 9 boards and 5 assists, and made 5 turnovers. Even with his own fame stunt penalty, Harden only got 4 chances in this game. In fact, in this game, Philadelphia's performance in the first half was not bad, and in the first quarter, philadelphia fell behind by 8 points, and Philadelphia won the 51-50 rebound in the first half. Harden's 12 points in the half was ok, but Harden was completely sleepwalking in the second half.
In the third quarter, Philadelphia lost nine points 21-30. In the final quarter, Philadelphia did not score a point in 5 minutes. In the entire second half, Harden scored only 4 points, and the final quarter was 0 points! With four minutes left in the game, coach Rivers withdrew his main force early and announced his surrender. And Harden is obviously very disappointed with the result of the game. Before the game was over, Harden fled the court in a towel and returned to the locker room.
The game proved once again that without Embiid, there wouldn't be much suspense in this series. And Harden also used a bad game to confirm the suspicion of many fans, he is no longer a superstar who can stand alone, he is really old. Maybe this is not a bad thing, after all, after Embiid returns, Harden can still have a good space as the second boss, and the team's priorities will be more clear.