Beijing time on May 5, the 76ers ushered in the second game of the semifinals with the Heat, after losing to the Heat by 14 points in the first game, the 76ers also hoped to "steal" a victory in today's game, but unfortunately Embiid continued to be absent, plus Harden also unfortunately pulled his crotch again, the 76ers were behind in each quarter of the whole 4 quarters, and finally lost to the Heat 103-119, the total score was 0-2 behind.
Harden weakened again and scored just 20 points, and the 76ers fell behind the Heat 0-2 in the semifinals
In the case that Embiid did not come to Miami with the team because of the eye socket fracture + concussion injury, Harden, as the team's second superstar, will also take on great responsibility, but this game, Harden continued the sluggish performance of the playoffs, the whole game in 41 minutes of playing time, 15 shots only hit 6 goals, 5 of 5 three-pointers, only 20 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists, the entire second half Harden only scored 4 points, his weakness on the offensive end, but let the second-year young Maxi support, Scoring 34 points in this game, unfortunately, in the face of the full blossom of the Heat, the 76ers still failed to "steal" the victory on the road.
Harden didn't have a 25+ game in eight playoff games this year, and the last time was 11 years
According to relevant statistics, in the 8 games of this year's playoffs, Harden did not have a game with a score of 25 points, from his last playoff game of 25 points, but also back to the 10-11 season, when Harden was still just a second-year rookie who played as a substitute, in Durant, Westbrook mastered the absolute ball, plus his own skills did not usher in too much growth, such a performance is understandable, but time has passed, after leaving the Thunder to join the Rockets, Harden has become the league's top superstar, and this time to the 76ers such a strong team, the team is hoping that he will become the last piece of the puzzle to win the championship, but when the team needs to stand up the most, Harden has dropped the chain in the playoffs like the previous seasons, which is indeed a bit disappointing to the 76ers' eager expectations.
The average score per game in the playoffs has dropped to fourth on the team, and the words Harden and Superstar have gradually drifted apart
In the 39.9 minutes of playtime, he averaged only 18.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 9.4 assists per game, shooting as low as 40.2%, and 3.6 turnovers per game, which was far below the career average of the playoffs, and could only rank fourth on the team, not to mention Embiid and Maxi, two players who averaged 20+ per game, even Harris, who was deeply criticized by the outside world in the regular season. In the average score per game has successfully surpassed Harden (19.4 points), as the only superstar in the current 76ers who has won the MVP, Harden's crotch performance is indeed a bit against his core identity.
In fact, Harden as early as last season to play the Nets, the overall performance has already seen a certain decline, At that time, he averaged only 20.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game in the playoffs, plagued by hamstring injuries, and indeed failed to play a normal performance, and this time to the 76ers, Harden still showed his weakness, during the regular season, in addition to the few games that just joined the team, there were occasional masterpieces, which made people see the MVP of the rocket era in the past, but with the deepening of the season, Harden really had some strength, and with the increase of age in recent years, coupled with his old injuries, harden has gradually lost his giant star ring, if Harden can not play more than 25 in the following games + score, that would be the first time in 10 years that I have encountered such an embarrassing situation in the playoffs.