Although the Sixers got off to a good start in the series once morest the Raptors, taking the lead with a 3-0 absolute draw advantage. However, following the Tyrannosaurus chased two games in a row, Harden finally recovered in the last game, helping the Sixers avoid the fate of being tied.
Hours before Game 5, the nine-time All-Star and the league’s most valuable player, Harden, stepped into the Sixers’ home in a green suit.
Harden is dressed in a hue that happens to be similar to that of the Sixers’ home court, making it hard to spot him. Meanwhile, the Sixers’ official Twitter account also tweeted with Harden’s photo and tagged their star.
This tweet, or the question in the tweet, happened to be the doubt in everyone’s mind following the game.
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Not only did James miss the playoffs, he even fell out of this list!
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The Sixers lost Game 5 at home, 88-103. That’s a bit of a nuisance because they’ve lost two straight since the draw, and that’s following the Raptors’ All-Star guard missed Game 5 of the series with an injury. Harden’s performance was a bit unacceptable, scoring 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting; he had seven assists and five turnovers. This is also the fourth time in this series that he has shot below 40 percent for the entire game.
After losing Game 5, Embiid, another All-Star on the team and MVP candidate of the year, said he thinks Harden needs to play more aggressively and show his individual abilities. Beyond that, it wasn’t Embiid who persuaded Harden to do it, it was the coach. Embiid hopes the coach can persuade Harden to take more shots, especially when Embiid is being heavily guarded on offense, and he desperately needs Harden to take the pressure off him. Anyone who has watched this series should understand what Embiid is trying to convey.
Embiid went on to add that he felt that sometimes the negative behavior of the players on the team was the main reason for him to be double-teamed. The team is not aggressive enough to break inside, but does some insubstantial transmission on the perimeter to give the out-of-position defenders time to get back to where they should be. As a result, the 76ers will naturally not have good offensive opportunities. If opponents are going to continue to double-team Embiid, the entire team should be more aggressive on offense.
When people pay attention to Simmons, the former 76ers player, who still chooses not to play even if the new owner Nets is regarding to be swept, and he still does not even have the status of the team, everyone starts talking regarding transferring from the Nets to the 76ers The team’s Harden performance, and the focus of the discussion is that Harden has not shouldered the responsibility of being the team’s second star.
Now is the perfect time for Harden to take over the game and prove himself. The Heat’s defensive ability they are regarding to face in the next round is definitely one of the best in the league. And they’re also likely to take advantage of Embiid’s absence to take away the series. At first, Embiid knocked out the T-Rex in the first round, because the T-Rex didn’t have a center or a player taller than 206 cm, so the T-Rex might only choose to double-team Embiid.
As a result, the Sixers’ No. 3 and No. 4 scoring arrows, like Maxey or Harris, have a lot of open space, or good shot opportunities. However, when Embiid’s offense is blocked and the rest of his teammates are not feeling well, the Sixers need Harden to step up even more, especially when they face Bam Adebayo, who has both size and mobility.
There are two problems in Philly at the moment: First, Harden’s current performance is quite different from his previous seasons. Second, since last year’s playoffs, he hasn’t been able to play as efficiently as he used to.
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Even though Harden’s sample size isn’t large enough this playoffs, we can still know for a fact that Harden is underwhelming, and his layup is particularly bad. In the ’20 playoffs, he made 17.7 cuts per game while shooting 64 percent; in the ’21 playoffs, although he was partially affected by a hamstring injury, he still made 8.8 cuts per game At 62.5 percent, he didn’t drop too much; in this year’s playoffs, he made 18.5 cuts per game, but only made 40 percent from the field. Although the Raptors defenders in the first round have an advantage in wingspan, they don’t have a traditional paint center, and Harden’s performance is unreasonable.
In addition, Harden’s performance in the regular season has also declined a lot, especially his cutting. He shot 66.8 percent from within three feet in 2020, 67.4 percent in 21, and 59.8 percent this season, the worst performance of his career so far.
Although Harden is underperforming, he can still improve the team’s offense. He has good vision and passing ability, allowing the rest of the team to score easily. On top of that, even though he shot 37.3 percent from the field this series, he still scored 92 points on 67 attempts. Because Harden can also rely on his other world-famous skill, which is to draw fouls, to score free throws.
Although the playoffs have only played six games so far, the accumulated data may not be enough, but Harden has experienced a considerable decline in both the regular season and the playoffs. So, we should really discuss whether he still has enough explosiveness to cut and score.
Blake Griffin has a similar situation, even though he is only 31 years old, but the data shows that he is declining faster than expected; the same is true for Russell Westbrook, everyone has doubts regarding whether he can have a long career, following all, his athletic ability And explosive power has dropped a lot.
Harden’s situation is fundamentally different from the above two players. Instead of focusing on physical fitness, he has gradually become the league’s top scorer with clean footwork and fake moves. However, even if Harden doesn’t rely on lightning speed or agility to complete the offense, there are doubts that he can maintain his past performances without his explosiveness.
Harden’s other skills, like his step-back 3-pointer, are actually very dependent on the destructive power of his cuts. If his cuts aren’t threatening, opponents can move forward more and Harden’s step-backs are less threatening. Harden’s top-notch shifting ability can only be fully displayed when the opponent is afraid of his cutting.
Although Harden’s cutting ability is not as good as he used to be, he still has a lot of skills that defenders can’t take him lightly. For example, his three-point shooting, although his three-point shooting rate this season is an all-time low of only 33%, but it should bottom out next. On top of that, while the league is starting to crack down on offensive foul play, Harden is known to be very good at coming up with all kinds of different ways to get to the free throw line. He should also be able to find loopholes in this new policy for the league and return to being an efficient scorer.
Harden can exercise a $47 million player option next season, and if he receives a max contract, he might also get a higher salary. Interestingly, how many years is Harden’s prime?
However, if you’re a Sixers executive, player, or fan, you should expect Harden to quickly reclaim his past performance to ease Embiid’s burden; following all, finding star players to help Embiid is what drove the Harden trade. The original intention, now can only focus on whether he has the opportunity to lead this team without Embiid. Wu has competed with South Beach.
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This article compiles reference:76ers’ James Harden is missing in action
【Contributing Editor Wang Shihong / Responsible Editor Xie Yiqian】