Today, the NBA playoffs continue, with the Philadelphia 76ers going to have a big game with the Miami Heat.
Before the game, the 76ers were already very unfavorable, because their absolute core Embiid was elbowed in the face by Siakam in the final game of the series against the Toronto Raptors. After examination, Embiid had a fractured right eye socket with a mild concussion, so he did not accompany the team to the away game, and was expected to miss the first two games of the series.
Despite the lack of Embiid, the 76ers still have a superstar like Harden. According to the general fan's thinking, Harden, who led the team in a single core, should have slashed a triple-double statistic of 45 points, and then conceded the last goal, and the 76ers regrettably lost, although the defeat was still glorious.
But the truth is that the 76ers lost to the Heat 92-106, and Harden was not very "proud". Throughout the game, Harden was sluggish, contributing 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in the 35 minutes of the opening game, shooting 5-of-13 from the athletic campaign and 2-of-7 from beyond the three-point line, with five turnovers. Harden had 12 more points in the first half, only four in the second half and not a single point in the final quarter.
According to statistics, Harden has not made more than 20 shots in a single game since he switched to the 76ers, and he has 12 more than 20 single-game shots when he played for the Brooklyn Nets this season, the highest is 25. Without Harden's offense, the 76ers shot 6-of-34 from beyond the three-point line for the entire game, shooting as low as 17 percent.
Obviously, such a performance is not enough to support the 76ers to win the game, and they are likely to lose to the Heat in their next game, swallowing two straight losses. At present, Harden may really not be as brave as he used to be, and the impact of the offense and the desire to score are much lower. If Embiid doesn't come back, the 76ers could swallow a crisp defeat in this series.