On May 3, Beijing time, the 76ers lost to the Heat 92-106 away from home, in the absence of Embiid, Harden did not usher in a big outbreak, he shot 5 of 13, 2 of 7 three-pointers, had 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, and made 5 mistakes. This war beard does not show the style of a temporary leader. Tobias Harris scored 27 points and Maxi scored 19. Jordan Jr., who replaced Embiid, was blasted out for 17 minutes with a plus-minus of -22.
The 76ers in this game set a record of humiliation, with the team making 34 three-point shots and hitting just six of them. The 76ers' three-point shooting percentage is just 17.6 percent. The 76ers set a new record for the lowest shooting percentage in playoff history when making at least 30 shots in a single game. The 76ers' worst three-pointers were Niang and Maxi, who threw 0-of-7 and 1-of-6 three-pointers, respectively.
The 76ers without Embiid are a completely different team, Jordan Jr. can't hold up the team's interior line, and he is completely at a disadvantage against Adebayor. Adebayor had 24 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Adebayor's plus-minus is a terrifying +26.
Harden was killed, and this veteran P.J. Tucker defended Harden and received excellent results. Tucker also contributed 10 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist in addition to completing the defensive task, including 5 rebounds in the frontcourt.
Heat official Twitter posted a photo of Tucker defending his beard with the caption: "Welcome to the kennel!" ”
Harden's poor performance sparked controversy, with 76ers coach Rivers defending Beard, saying: "It's not just about James personally, it's about everyone. James could have scored more individually, but we have to put him in a better position. We have to do better on the offensive end. ”
In this game, the 76ers collapsed in the second half, the third quarter was beaten a 30-21, the middle of the final quarter encountered a black 5 minutes, was hit by the Heat 11-0 offensive wave, the score gap widened to 21 points, the game lost suspense.
Harden's sluggish performance in the second half was met with a sharp rebuke from the famous Skip Velez: "Did Harden go to the beaches on the south coast of Miami at halftime today?" I couldn't find him in the second half. Harden scored just four points on just 1-of-4 shooting in the second half. Objectively speaking, Harden's performance in the second half is indeed not commensurate with his identity and value.