The Heat's opening game of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the 76ers kicked off at the Heat's home court, and the 76ers' interior line will be under a lot of pressure as Embiid will miss the first two games due to an eye socket fracture and concussion injury. If they want to win games and get off to the top, the outside shooters led by Harden must take on more responsibility.
But in the end, the 76ers were able to compete with the Heat in the first half, and suddenly collapsed in the second half of the game with a one-point lead at halftime. From the third quarter of the game, the Heat not only completed the rebound, but also widened the point difference, maintaining a 15-point lead for a long time, and finally won the 76ers 106:92 to win the opening. The reason why the 76ers were still leading in the first half and suddenly collapsing in the second half was that in addition to the 76ers' internal line in the second half of the game, the collective downturn in their outside shooter group was also a key factor.
Harden played another bad game, this time Harden played 35 minutes, only 5 of 13 shots, only 7 of 7 three-pointers, only 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, but there were as many as 5 turnovers. In the first quarter of this campaign, Harden felt very bad, scoring only 5 points and 4 rebounds on 1 of 5 shots in a single quarter. In the second quarter, Harden's form picked up slightly, scoring 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting in the quarter, and the 76ers were still able to compete with the Heat in this quarter, surpassing the score at the end of the half. With a decent 12 points in the first half, many fans thought Harden would be in better shape in the second half.
But in the third quarter, when the Heat began to overtake in this quarter and widened the point difference, Harden was invisible on the offensive end. Although he played 12 minutes in a single quarter, he only made three shots, and only got 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in a single quarter. It was because of Harden's slump that the 76ers gradually lost the initiative on the court. In the final quarter of the game, in the case of the team's point difference being widened, Harden only played 3 minutes in a single quarter, and only shot 1 time without scoring. Harden scored just four in the second half after scoring 12 points in the first half, and he didn't come out well to save the team when the team was in a passive state in the second half.
This also made Harden once again encounter great doubts after the game, and what made many fans feel more dissatisfied than his aggressiveness on the field was his lack of feel. In Embiid's absence, many fans predicted before the game that Harden would kill all four sides in this game, at least in terms of the number of shots, but he only made 13 shots in this campaign, and The number of shots in the team of Maxi and Harris was even more than Harden. In addition, harden only 3 of his 13 shots came from near the box, and most of the time he chose to end the attack with long-range shots, which also made him only get 4 free throw opportunities in the game.
And his hand feels very bad, which means that he didn't pose much of a threat on the offensive end of the game. And this game is also a microcosm of Harden's joining the 76ers until the present, and it is reported that since Harden was traded to the 76ers before and after the trade deadline this season, he has not yet made 20 shots in any game. In 21 regular-season games for the 76ers this season, Ha's average of 13.6 shots is only a new low in the past 11 seasons. In the case of fewer shots, Harden's shooting rate is even less ideal, averaging only 5.5 shots per game, shooting a career-low 40.2%.
In the playoffs, Harden still has not been as big as in the Rockets period, as of now, his average number of shots in 7 games in the playoffs is only 13.1 times, only 5.3 of them can be hit, the shooting rate is only 40.2%, and the three-point shooting rate is only 32.6% of the career playoff low, averaging only 18.6 points per game, and in the Rockets period, he is simply two people. In the first round of the series against the Raptors this season, Harden has scored less than 20 points in three games, and if it were not for the outstanding performances of the likes of Embiid and Maxi, the 76ers would probably face the danger of being out of the game even in the first round.
And even in this game, in the case of Embiid's inability to play, Harden did not have a particularly strong offensive desire, resulting in the team eventually losing the game with a double-digit point difference. The reasons for this situation are inseparable from the following points. On the one hand, Harden's downturn this season is obvious to fans, affected by hamstring strains and increasing age, Harden's physical fitness in all aspects of this season has declined to a considerable extent, and his explosive power is far less than in the Rockets period, which also makes him choose more about shooting on the outside rather than on the inside.
In this season's game against the Nets, Harden had a big conflict with the team because of lack of competitiveness, and was eventually traded by the Nets to the 76ers. In the current series against the Heat, harden is almost unable to easily reach the inside to score points in the case of the opponent's strong defensive ability. On the other hand, the current game has also proved that Harden is not really integrated into the team system of the 76ers, and in the current lineup of the 76ers, Harden should have taken on more offensive tasks, but because he did not adapt well to the team's system, he did not dare to shoot in many cases.
But from the current situation, if Harden still does not dare to go out to play the game, the 76ers' offense will be greatly hindered. Star O'Neal also said after the game that Harden shot too few shots and insufficient aggressiveness, in embiid's absence he must take responsibility for shooting and scoring. In a post-game interview, when the reporter asked how the Harden Heat kept him away from the free throw line, he directly chose to avoid the question.
In short, at present, whether on the field or off the court, Harden is facing a lot of pressure. Whether he can withstand the pressure and play the peak performance of the Rockets in the next series will be an important factor in whether the 76ers can win this series, and harden's performance will determine whether the 76ers can win more games before Embiid returns.