On May 9, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinals G4, 76ers continued to sit at home to meet the Heat. Embiid turned the tide of the game with an injury, the 76ers were boosted by morale, and G3 won the game by an overwhelming margin, giving them hope of turning the series around. After a day of meeting again, the 76ers continued to work hard, and finally 116-108 poured out the heat, rewriting the big score to 2-2, and the two teams returned to the same running line.
Unlike G3, which started slowly and hotly, embiid was in hot form in the first quarter today after further adapting to wearing a mask, playing the first quarter and scoring 15 points and 3 rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting! Contrary to Embiid's fiery form, Harden did not score a point on 0-of-3 shooting in the first quarter, and also sent 3 turnovers and 2 fouls. Harden's sluggish performance offset Embiid's output, with the 76ers leading the Heat by just two points at the end of the first quarter.
Harden, who was plagued by fouls in the second quarter, did not play immediately, and the Heat once overtook the score in the tug-of-war. Harden, who replaced the Skin of the Rockets, re-emerged, broke out without warning, first hit a three-pointer, opened the scoring account, and then sent a series of wonderful passes, completely regaining the feeling of the game, shooting inside and outside, shooting 13 points in a single quarter, leading the team to an 18-4 attack wave, and the point difference was quickly pulled up to double digits. At the critical moment, Butler single-handedly supported the crisis, hitting three consecutive points to narrow the point difference to 8 points and end the first half.
Easy to fight again, Butler is still brave and brave, carrying the heat forward, while Harden has entered the skill cooling period, only 2 points in the third quarter, and the lead has been eroded. Just when people think that Harden is going to habitually pull his crotch in the second half, Harden changed the Rockets skin again in the final quarter, found a three-point feeling, whether it is Hiero, Oladipo, or Vincent, Strus standing in front of him, Harden has received everything according to the order, the shot is very decisive, the final quarter scored 16 points, hit 4 three-pointers, stopped the Heat three times, almost single-handedly killed the suspense of the game.
Harden played 40 minutes in the game, shooting 8-of-18 from the field, 6-of-10 from three-point range, and scoring 31 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 1 steal. This is the second time Harden has cut 30+ since he was traded to the 76ers, and the last time he cut 30+ dates back to March 30! At the same time, Harden also set a new team record in this game, being the first player in the history of the 76ers to score 30 points, 5 boards and 5 assists in the playoffs and hit 5 three-pointers.
Harden's high-profile performance has sparked a hot discussion on social media, and many famous people who have previously questioned Harden have been convinced. Skip made two consecutive tweets after the game to praise Harden, saying that tonight's Harden has not been angry, and it is a rare storm performance from the distant past!
A Smith, who has been complaining that Harden can no longer return to the Rockets, is no longer a top-paid player, also praised Harden's performance after the game. Harden bluntly said tonight is the Harden we've been looking forward to, he can hit the shots that are disturbed, he can help the 76ers reach the Finals.
I hope that this game can make Harden completely regain his shooting confidence, continue his state, and meet the next battle of Tianwangshan, we will wait and see!