On May 5, Beijing time, just today, the Heat defeated the 76ers 119-103 and won a 16-point victory. Judging from the engagement between the two sides, the 76ers who lost Embiid were far from being able to pose a threat to the Heat, and the Heat almost pressed the 76ers to play, and their defensive strategy was very clear, defending Harden, cutting off his contact with his teammates, and they did it. What Spoo said during a timeout is still vivid: We want Harden to see that there are walls of people everywhere, that is, to force Harden to shoot three points and not let him break into the inside line.
It turns out that such a tactical arrangement has achieved good results, look at Harden, this field outside the line of 5 shots only 1 hit, just fell into the trap set by Spoo. Harden had 6 of 15 in this campaign, with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists, and the data looked decent, however, the bearded man in the second half only scored 4 points, which was useless on the offensive end, and such a performance could not be worthy of his annual salary. With the 76ers losing, Harden will definitely have to take the primary responsibility, look at the other two cores of the team, and they are very good.
Harris, who was 9-of-17, contributed 21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, while Maxi scored 34 points and 3 rebounds. Now Harden looks like he's only the fourth big of the team, and he can't even talk about the third big one. Of course, losing is not Harden's responsibility alone, Danny Green does not blossom in this game, 1 of 10 in the whole game, only 3 points and 2 rebounds, not even an empty dunk, more desperate than Harden. In addition, the Heat's bench performance is even more explosive, scoring a total of 52 points, far more than the 76ers' 19 points.
Although the Heat won the big win, it was not the win that was terrible, but Butler's words after the game. Butler said after the game: "It's very exciting that our players can come forward in any situation. The meaning of Butler's words is obvious, the Heat can play more players, and everyone can stand up when the team needs it, because Harden is locked in the second half, the 76ers only need to rely on Maxie and Harris. Look at the Heat, Strus, Butler, Adebayor, Tucker, Martin, Hiro and Audi are all players who can attack and defend.
In addition, Diamond, Vincent can also use their own performance to help the team, the 76ers give people the feeling of a full game of 3 to 12, look at the other heat's bench, Hiro contributed 18 points, Oladipo contributed 19 points, Audi alone scored equal the 76ers' entire team bench score. Obviously, the Heat's lineup depth is richer and more effective, which is why Butler said this, facing such a Heat team, the 76ers really can't do anything, they are likely to stop in the semifinals.