The NBA regular season continued, with the Raptors hosting the 76ers, and the final score was 119-109, and the 76ers lost again. The whole game gave the feeling that the elder Rivers knew where the team's shortcomings were, and he didn't change; Embiid and Maxey knew they had flashy data but it was useless, and they pretended not to know. From the first quarter, Harden was reduced to a spectator, and it was no exaggeration. Rivers Sr. seems to have to prove that he was right to let Harden give the ball to Maxi and Harden to make the ball for Embiid, and this 76ers team is really interesting.
Let's start with Harden. Harden played 36 minutes today, shooting 5-of-12 for 18 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Here are two examples to prove Harden's current team situation. The first shot, midway through the first quarter, Harden advanced to the front court, was tackled by Anunoby, the Raptors counterattacked 3-on-1, Barnes easily dunked, the elder Rivers immediately called a timeout, and when the camera was given to him, he muttered in his mouth, looking very dissatisfied with Harden's mistake. In the second half of the first quarter, Harden bombarded 3+1 against Colok, and Raptors coach Nas was dissatisfied with the team's defense, but he didn't expect that it was the old Rivers who called a timeout first! And the timeout came back and Maxi took over the ball. And throughout the third quarter, Harden's role was to dribble the ball through the half, quickly send the ball to Maxi or Embiid, let Maxi single, and let Embiid make a kill in the low position. Yes, these two seem efficient, but the 76ers are the only two who are scoring.
Many fans will complain that Harden shoots less, or even inferior to Tucker, Harden may really want to shoot, but does the coach let him? Maxey and Embiid both open their hands to ask for the ball, can Harden ignore it? In the previous 4 games, Harden averaged 26.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game, including on-court effects, which has been significantly better than Embiid, and from the perspective of Embiid and Rivers Sr., how can you let foreign monks come to chant. It was in this state that Maxi stripped Harden of the ball, and Embiid became Harden's first passing option when holding the ball. Looking at Maxi's play for Tucker and Harris, Maxi couldn't deal with the bag at all, and the 76ers shooter group was dumbfounded because of Harden's reduced ball status.
There was a scene late in the third quarter of the game, after Harden and Trent jumped to win, Maxi got the ball, and when there was enough time, he hurriedly threw a three-pointer, and he directly ignored Harden, who still wanted the ball to organize. When Harden lacks too many projection opportunities to deter opponents, Harden struggles with the bench, and it can be seen that Harden himself does not want to shoot, and everyone has no crosshairs. Why didn't Rivers Sr. keep playing Maxi and let him continue with the second team? And today's Nas's tactic is to wrap up Harden, he won't let the players wrap Maxi, what does that mean? Maxey and Embiid score as they please, but you can't win.
If Harden's previous performance stole the limelight from some people, the real bane of the 76ers was the old Rivers' arrangement of the roster. After playing the Pacers last game, Rivers Sr. said Milton could be in the rotation based on preseason practice. This is surprising, Sebre, as a strong defender in the second defensive team, has not run out of time at all? Just because he complains that he doesn't get playing time? Nyang and House don't shoot well, can't you add some time to Kolkmaz and Sebre? Or does the elder Rivers want to prove to management that the rocket system you helped Harden recruit is useless, and use Harrell, House, and others one by one until it is scrapped?
Whether it's playing the Bucks, playing the Celtics, including playing the Raptors today, the opponent's forward line is very strong, in this case, Tucker is old and can't stand it, and can really give Sebre more time, at least to maintain a certain degree of internal competition within the team. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Rivers Sr. intended to let Melton play the role of Harden, feed Maxi bread, and cooperate with Embiid's pass. When Harden came back in the fourth quarter, he really didn't want to lose, and he held the ball to the basket to create a kill, assisting Melton and Maxey to hit three points. And after Embiid came on the court, Harden was still feeding Embiid, the opponent was not a fool, Embiid was cut off when he received the ball, what tactical response did the old Rivers have? Embiid can he protect his ball?
Embiid scored 31 points and Maxey 31 points, the two played comfortably, and the old Rivers achieved his goal. Don't care about losing, right? Losing is not terrible, the scary thing is that the 76ers from the performance on the court, the atmosphere of the team is not good, the internal fragmentation. Harden may feel chilled by his current position, Maxey and Embiid may feel that they are not wrong, one is a growing star who deserves more time like Poole, and the other is the absolute core of the team, and they don't feel that Harden should steal their limelight. The old Rivers' defensive problems have not been solved, Harris and Tucker have been beaten into a sieve by opponents, and Embiid has basically not participated in some confrontations on the defensive end. All the problems are stacked together, and if you want to solve them, you may only have to change the coach.