The NBA regular season is in full swing, the 76ers face the Raptors on the road, the fierce four quarters, the 76ers lost the game 109-119, and the new season record reached 1-4. In this game, Philadelphia's boss Embiid and the team's future Maxi both played extremely gorgeous statistics, Embiid cut 31 points, Maxi had 31 points and 6 assists, and even so, the 76ers lost the game. From the perspective of the game process, the Raptors studied the Philadelphia 76ers very thoroughly, that is, they did not hesitate to use double and three-man bags to limit Harden and force him to hand over the ball, and Harden was also reduced to a spectator from the first quarter, Rivers let Harden give the ball to Maxi and Embiid, and finally Harden ran with him for 36 minutes, shot 12 times, and scored 18 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. From the third quarter, Harden dribbled the ball after half the court to Maxi and Embiid, let Maxi single, Embiid to the inside to kill, although their efficiency is good, but the Philadelphia team is only the two of them scoring, tactically not the Raptors at all. Arguably, Rivers knows where Philadelphia's problems are, but he can't change the status quo, Embiid is the boss of the team, Maxey is the future of the team, and he needs to take care of the emotions of these two.
After being eliminated in the playoffs last season, Embiid told the media that we want a Rockets wait, but he's not that kind of player anymore, and he needs to be more aggressive. Harden didn't respond at the time, and this summer Harden did everything he had to do, losing weight, training hard, trying to improve his status to the playoff level, which he did, in the previous four games, Harden averaged 26, 8 points, 9.8 assists and 8.5 rebounds per game, and his tactical role in the 76ers far exceeded Embiid, but in Rivers' eyes, Harden is still an outsider, to prevent Harden from fighting for power. It can be said that in Rivers' eyes, Harden should be ranked behind Embiid and Maxi in terms of ball rights, but although Maxi's offense is good, his ability to handle the ball is too far from Harden, once offered, it is difficult to pass the ball to empty players, and the 76ers' shooter group is also collectively muted because Harden loses the ball.
And Harden not only actively improved his ability in the offseason, but also actively participated in the team's recruitment, for this reason, Harden did not hesitate to cut his salary by $15 million, to give the team space to sign Harrell, House, Tucker and others, Harden thought that his sacrifice could add bricks to the bench, but Harden was thankless, Harrell, House and others were not taken on by Rivers, Harrell, who averaged a few minutes per game, even became the object of Rivers' shelling, and the entire rocket system was not reused here in Rivers. Philadelphia's bench is not much different in scoring from last season, with Philadelphia benches scoring a total of 17 points in this game, including Melton alone with 12 points, House with 3 points, and Harrell playing only 4 minutes and swallowing eggs. It can be said that Harden's salary cut of 15 million has also been lost!
So, what is the reason for Philadelphia's loss? Presumably, the fans are in the eyes, and the first bane is Rivers' formation. In Harden's usage, Rivers has always been biased and has never established the idea of Harden as the core of his tactics, and Harden is playing to feed Embiid and Maxey. On the defensive end, Rivers did not emphasize enough, whether it was Embiid or Maxi, they were not good on defense, the two pursued offense too much, for which Embiid even neglected to protect the rebound, Embiid only won 5 rebounds in this game, not as good as Harris and Harden. In the case of thin defense, Sebre, as the team's strongest defensive ability, was directly hidden in the snow. When Niang and House are feeling bad, can't you give Sebre some time?
Second, neither Embiid nor Maxi, nor even Rivers had the same heart as Harden. As we all know, Harden chose to leave the Rockets and leave the Nets for the championship, which is Harden's only pursuit at this stage, for this reason, he gave up his high salary and gave up his team status, but Embiid is thinking about the right to shoot, thinking about the position of the team's boss, Harris and Tucker are beaten into a sieve on the defensive end, and he is not willing to give some confrontation on the defensive end. Maxi is also always thinking about his shot, Harden dribbles after half the court and reaches out for the ball, and the defensive end is directly stabbed. Rivers, on the other hand, is slightly biased, knowing the team's problems, but unwilling to make some adjustments to it. It can be said that as long as the 76ers at this stage do not let Harden hold the ball organization, there is no tactics to speak of, and it is difficult to win against anyone!
I have to say that the trade between the Nets and the 76ers is a lose-lose existence, and Embiid and Maxey need guards like Simmons who only organize and do not offense!