Nets against the Pistons, Harden clocked in the third quarter, cut 18 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, got the first triple-double of the season, and led the team to two consecutive wins. The Nets are finally back in offensive form, and Harden is playing more and more like Harden.
Although the Strength of the Pistons is far inferior to that of the Nets, the latter does play more methodically and gradually become better. When Durant is still Durant and Harden is still Harden, the Nets are still the biggest favorite to win the championship. I said before the start of the regular season that the Big Three were missing Irving, and Harden was the one who decided where the Nets would eventually go. He has only two tasks, combing the team and scoring, facing the weak team, Harden can focus on tandem, assist teammates more to score, facing strong teams, tandem teams at the same time, but also have to remain aggressive on the offensive end. In other words, it is necessary to take out the Rockets' average of 30 points per game, often 40+, 50+ triple-double performance, which is enough to support the Nets' record.
Let's take a look at Harden's stats, averaging 18.7 points per game, the lowest since joining the Rockets (as the core of the team), averaging 5.3 free throws per game, the lowest since joining the Rockets, and can be said to be the bottom of his career.
Thinking about Harden is 32 years old, it is more or less a feeling of beginning to decline. In fact, for professional players in the NBA, 30 years old is a threshold, except for a handful of talented superstars, most players who rely on body and explosive power to play will begin to decline. Wei Shao is the best example, his speed, explosiveness, and jumping height are declining at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he is not known for shooting, less impact, and the increasing lack of scoring means, which makes his offensive efficiency decline. Of course, the peak period is also based on the accumulation of high-frequency shots, not that Wei Shao is not good, but countless facts have proved that he is this type of player, unless he can be like Rose, late hard work, change the way of play.
Similarly, there are many people like Wei Shao. As I grew older and suffered injuries, I began to decline. Maddy's talent is unquestionable, his career has been plagued by knee injuries, and he chose to play in the playoffs in a closed game for the Rockets, and since then he has been depressed and ended in a dim manner, "Penny" Hardaway and Grant Hill are all the same.
Harden is not the case, he is a real skilled player. Although the body is strong, the body has never been his only magic weapon, the body is only an auxiliary, he is more of a rhythm, feel to score. It's no exaggeration to say that Harden is the smartest player I've ever met, the one who uses the rules the most.
Harden, who does not rely on explosive power to play, is far from the time of going downhill. So what exactly is the cause of this situation? First, there are injuries. Three second-degree strains in a single season, although the physical function has been restored, but as a professional athlete, the recovery of physical function is not enough. The strength of the hamstrings is not yet able to adapt to high-intensity competition, in short, the explosive power of the calf is affected, and the explosiveness of the calf determines the breakthrough speed, the height of the jump, and the amplitude of the lateral movement. And Harden's scoring means, just need these explosive power, don't misunderstand, although Harden does not rely on explosive power to play, but I mean as a normal professional player, have explosive power. In other words, Harden is not yet a normal Harden, in just a few months, it is impossible to return to the state of 30 points and 40 points.
As evidenced by one statistic, Harden has run at 3.63 mph, the league's penultimate. Penultimate was Embiid and Round Face Den, at 3.67 mph, and fourth-to-last was James, at 3.69 mph. Although Harden really does not know how to be fast, it is not so slow, which shows the impact of strain on him.
Second, the impact of the rules. Before the season began, I said that the league changed the rules in an effort to reduce the use of non-basketball fouls by offensive players in order to improve the enjoyment of the game. There are probably four actions that are tightly grasped: first, the pitcher starts at an abnormal angle to shoot the basket to create contact, or tilts toward the defender; second, the attacking player suddenly deviates from his route (to the side or backward) to create contact with the defender; third, the pitcher kicks the leg at an abnormal angle (up or to the side); and fourth, the non-ball carrier of the attacking player hooks the defender. We all know that after the Rockets changed to playing magic balls, Harden's offensive methods were basically based on breakthroughs and three-pointers, and the same was true in the matter of creating fouls. The change of rules makes him extremely uncomfortable, in fact, not only him, the whole league is not adaptable. Up to now, the league's 30 teams have averaged only 19.8 free throws per game, and the highest average free throw per game is the alphabet brother (10 times), the letter is an inside player, not too affected by the rule change, and his shots are basically not foul. Harden's first five games, the number of free throws was 4, 4, 1, 3, 3, 3, you can't imagine, it's a superstar treatment.
There are few penalties, and there are several situations. One is that the opponent's defense is weak and does not foul you at all; the second is that the defensive players are too skilled to give the referee the opportunity to blow penalties; the third is to create fouls, but the referee ignores them; the fourth is that the strength of the two sides is huge, there is no need to create too many fouls, and normal play can win the game. This isn't the first time Harden has been sanctioned by the rules. In the 2017-18 season, the league changed the rules, and players who waved their arms to touch defensive players when breaking through were no longer judged to be fouled for shooting, a new rule known at the time as the "Harden Rule". But Harden's amazing ability to adapt was not too limited, and that season, Harden's average number of free throws per game only dropped from 10.9 to 10.1.
But after just five games, Harden broke the inhibition and scored 19 free throws against the Pacers. The terrible thing about Harden is that he will patiently interpret the rules, try little by little, and finally find a way to crack it. It's something that a lot of superstars don't do, or disdain, but Harden doesn't care about that, he knows that the way to rely on the rules to win is reasonable, otherwise what to referee.
The change in the rules this season is mainly for outside shooting, so I will make a fuss about the breakthrough. Of the 19 free throws, all but two three-point fouls were earned through breakthroughs. If it is split into details, it is Harden who uses his excellent upper limb strength to deliberately expose the ball holder when breaking through, luring the defender to cut the ball, as long as he reaches out and hits the arm, it is a real foul, no way, the rules are written like this. Others break through, are holding the ball in their arms to prevent others from cutting the ball, but Harden does the opposite, relying on his own unicorn arm, deliberately letting you cut the ball, if the defender can't help but get off, it is right in the middle. This stunt is unique to Harden in the league.
A player like Harden cannot fall down the rank because of the rule change. Just like the top master who has been famous for a long time in the jianghu, unless he is accidentally poisoned or injured by a dark weapon, his combat strength will be damaged. Don't make a fuss, if Harden is short-lived, how can he occupy the top ten stars for so many years, don't the sunspots always say that Harden is a regular season supergiant? So what time is it? Isn't it the regular season, how can Harden pull his crotch? Give him some time until the hamstring injury really recovers, and that's when the Nets get back on track.