Beijing time today (3rd) morning, NBA playoffs Eastern Conference semifinals, 76ers away 92-106 lost to the Heat. Embiid was absent due to injury, and Jordan Jr. started the game, scoring only 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in 17 minutes, delivering a bad plus-minus of -22.
"Colkmaz and Jordan Jr. made their debuts at the same time in the final quarter, and what kind of galactic brain hole did Doug Rivers open to make such a lineup?" The Ringer reporter Kevin O'Connor complained on social media.
When Joel Embiid was unable to play in the first two games of the series due to an orbital fracture, the 76ers' odds against the Heat were at a low level, and they really couldn't find a good substitute in the center position. Rivers' final decision was to give Jordan Jr. a start, and what he gave back to the team was 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers, and a bad plus-minus of 22 points that the team lost 17 minutes.
92-106, the 76ers eventually lost on the road and trailed the Heat 0-1 in the series. The result and the score were not surprising, and if it weren't for the Heat's once-in-a-ditch power outage, the 76ers might even have lost from start to finish.
As we all know, Embiid is the most important offensive and defensive fulcrum of the 76ers. He played at the MVP level in the regular season, averaging 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, facing the Fierce Bag Clip of the Raptors in the first round of the playoffs, Embiid still handed over 26.2 points and 11.3 rebounds with injury, and completed a quasi-kill three-pointer in G3, giving the team a favorable position in advance.
It's almost impossible for the team to fill embiid's gap. The center's regular-season possession was as high as 37 percent, the 10th in a single season since the start of the 1977-78 season. In other words, Harden, Maxi, and Harris must all dramatically increase their offensive output in order to work together to prop up embiid's firepower gap on the offensive end. In the nine games embiid was absent, Harris's score per 36 minutes rose from 17.4 to 21.2, and Maxi rose from 16.2 to 24.8.
The other core of the 76ers knows they have to do more, and the Heat certainly know how they should defend, and the Miamiman let Tucker defend Harden from the beginning, completely cutting off the 76ers' offensive launch, forcing them to not get a smooth scoring opportunity. Harris did step on offensive throttle, scoring 27 points and six rebounds on 11-of-18, but Maxie scored 19 points on 6-of-15 and Harden had only 16 points and five assists on 5-of-13.
Meanwhile, who will replace Embiid's starting center is intriguing. The answer Rivers gave was Jordan Jr., but the effect was staggering. According to statistics, Jordan Jr. participated in 13 defensive defenses, each time allowing the Heat to score 1.62 points. For comparison, the Heat's side of Adebayo defended 14 blocks, each time only allowing the 76ers to take 0.57 points. But after the game, Rivers was still saying: "We like Jordan Jr., whether you like it or not, we will continue to make him start because we believe in him." 」 "You don't know if this is another bowl of chicken soup that Lao Li poured in, or if he really decided to believe in his choice."
"I talked to our guys and we wanted a big guy who could go down, and that's exactly what Jordan Jr. was doing in the second half, he needed to play like that all the time." Rivers explained, "The performance of Jordan Jr. in those 4 or 5 minutes was what we needed, we liked Paul Reed, but we didn't want him to get into foul trouble, which is why I chose not to let him start. ”
In addition to Jordan Jr., the 76ers also have young and smaller interior lineman Paul Reid, who played 13 minutes tonight and put together five frontcourt rebounds, 4 points and 9 rebounds, but also quickly accumulated 5 fouls. Georges Niang also played center in the small lineup as a forward shooter, and his role was to completely open up the 76ers' offensive space. The Heat have the highest percentage of three-point shots this season, and Niang is a shooter who shoots more than 40 percent from three-point range. Only tonight his hands feel cold, all seven shots hit iron, the score is hanging zero, and the defensive end will expose the 76ers' basket problems. But even so, Niang's 22 minutes on the court still let the 76ers win six points.
So in the absence of Embiid, the 76ers lack a perfect answer, and most people expect them to steal a victory before Embiid returns. However, in the case of losses on the inside, the Phillies still have no feel tonight, they shot a super poor three-point performance of 6 of 34, and harden himself hit the most three-pointers, but he only had 7 shots of 2, such outside fire completely extinguished the flame of their winning. It is worth mentioning that the 76ers' two most three-point games this season are facing the Heat, shooting 17.6% today and 17.1% in the March 6 game.
But the 76ers won't lose confidence, and they're ready for this round of extreme difficulties. "We have the ability to beat the opponent, I really think so. As long as we can bite them, we will wait for the moment when they collapse. Reid said. Harris also said: "We are a confident team and everyone is confident. ”
Wen | Kong Dexin
Edit | Fat Cat