Due to the injury of the star Joel Embiid, the outside world believes that the 76ers will face a bitter battle in the series against the Heat. Sure enough, as everyone predicted, the 76ers were completely suppressed by the Heat in the first game, and the two sides played a good game in the first half, and the 76ers even led by one point. But by the second half of the game, the 76ers were clearly unable to resist, and finally suffered a defeat in Miami, and the series ushered in a black opening.
The biggest problem with the 76ers, you may be able to understand by looking at the post-game statistics, that is, the core of the team, James Harden, has dropped the chain again, he shot 5 of 13, only got 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, and there were as many as 5 mistakes, and James Ha's plus-minus on the field was also -8 points. So far in the playoffs, James Harden has averaged 18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 9.4 assists and 0.9 steals, and the data still looks very comprehensive, but James Harden has not had any game more than 25 points. This shows that he is no longer like in the past, as long as he wants to score, today's James Harden is not so much a psychological problem, more like his breakthrough is completely unable to get rid of the opponent, the offensive end of the deterrent is not as good as before, coupled with the Miami Heat, which is rich in defensive resources and at the top of the regular season in the East, these problems are more obvious.
Of course, the loss puts the blame on James Harden alone, which is obviously a little inappropriate, and Joel Embiid's absence may have a greater impact on the 76ers than imagined. Although any team lacks an absolute core, the combat effectiveness will naturally be greatly reduced, not to mention that Joel Embiid averaged 26.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.8 blocks per game against the Raptors in the first round of the playoffs, and the shooting rate is more than 50%, except for the slightly worse outside projection, Joel Embiid is almost impeccable on the court. However, the 76ers' internal problem is also obvious, that is, once Joel Embiid is rested, the center position will basically appear in a vacuum. There was at least Andre Drummond on the bench in the first half of the season, but in order to get Harden, he had been sent to the Nets before the deadline, so the 76ers' interior problem was even greater.
Originally Joel Embiid was able to play, the 76ers encountered a strong team big deal to let him rest less, reduce the number of rotations and use the main force to fight hard with the opponent. But now Joel Embiid can't get on, and the time in the center position can only be given to the few remaining players. So the 76ers let Jordan Jr. start first, who was selected as an All-Star and League double at his peak, but now he is older and his professional attitude has been criticized. During the Nets and Lakers, Jordan Jr. was very unpopular, and now that he has come to the 76ers, the situation has not improved in the slightest, this time he only got 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks, and the plus-minus value is also the lowest -22 points on the whole team. And Jordan Jr. has a very limited role on the field, losing the threat when the offensive end leaves the three-second zone, and the defensive side has not been able to stop the opponent.
Jordan Jr. was disappointing, but more or less contributed, with another former All-Star, Paul Millsap, playing six minutes and only having 1 rebound and 1 assist. Due to his age, Paul Millsap's form has declined significantly in the past two years, and he also played for the Nets in the first half of the season, and only came to the 76ers with Harden in the final minutes of the day. However, Paul Millsap's height is not dominant as a big forward, and it is even more difficult for him to top the fifth position.
The two veterans in front of them, the series against the Raptors, were abandoned, so there was really no way to give them some playing time, and George Niang's sluggish performance may surprise the 76ers coaching staff and fans. It should be known that in the series against the Raptors, George Niang played an important strategic role in a total of 12 of 18 shots from outside the three-point line. But the Heat are obviously guarded against this, coupled with the 76ers space can not be opened and the defensive intensity is too large, George Niang's shooting environment is far less comfortable than the first round, so his 7 shots can all be deflected outside the three-point line, the whole game did not get a point, the effective data is only 1 assist and 2 steals. So the 76ers rotated three main interiors in this game, adding up to only 4 points.
Youngster Paul Reid was one of the few highlights of the 76ers, scoring four points, nine rebounds and four assists, and the lad was full of energy, including five frontcourt rebounds. However, the youngster was inexperienced, having committed five fouls in 13 minutes. After this game, the outside world was attacking the 76ers coach Doug Rivers's platooning and tactical arrangements, but everyone also saw that in the case that Joel Embiid could not play, the 76ers could use only a few players inside, and the best Paul Reid was still in foul trouble, and the responsibility of management was undoubtedly greater than that of the coaching staff led by Rivers.