Harden has 2 to 3 games in a series to be either monster games or good games. We all have been there and watched him. He just does not have the stamina. 29 year old Harden was even gassed in the Playoffs.
What an emotional roller-coaster this must be for Philly fans. You win the one your not supposed to behind a near historic level performance from one guy to overcome the loss of your best player and then the next game, you get your best player back, but your previous hero is a dud and you get blown out. What's next? Maybe Harden sits out and Philly blows out the Celtics? Maybe Philly is done? Maybe their not? The basketball Gods are playing this one oddly.
I don't know why people keep calling Harden fat. It looks to me like he bulked up, which was probably done to instigate and absorb contact. It definitely helps him to bump defenders out of the way and barrel to the basket, something he has to do more of since he doesn't always have the speed to get by defenders anymore. Anyway, I think he's intentionally molded himself into a Kyle Lowry body type. Pretty impressive IMO.
The Celtics’ offense now relies heavily on what Mazzulla calls “randomness.” As Smart described the system, the team has “a couple plays” with all sorts of reads off those actions. Everything only works if the players operate on the same page. “Literally,” Smart said, “the majority of the offense is random.” Source: Jay King @ The Athletic Spoiler
I watched the first quarter and right away noticed the difference. Celtics locked-in tone was there from the get-go. You see Harden patented not trying effort off-the ball or with the ball because he already scored 45 last game. I saw that effort and turned my attention into reading a book. The first quarter he had 2 turnovers back to back that went unaccounted for. Stat keeping is very subjective. Harden fans now want Embid gone because he plays better without a center. If only those poor fans knew. Embid is catching tons of backlash undeservingly while the 2-14 fg fraud gets away clean
We have to understand that the standard is to play well every game and not ever lose a game. That’s how every player is judged. And all the best players pass that standard.
If it was an intentional move, it was a mistake. Tim Duncan taught us a long ass time ago that it's better to slim down as you age. It's better for your body overall but especially better if you're an aging athlete.
Because there aren't any Tatum fans on this board. And he played only 19 minutes because of early foul trouble and was a blowout. Your post is a textbook example of whataboutism. Anyway, this back and forth thing between Harden haters and Harden fans is tiring. This thread is about the Celtics-Sixers series. Playoffs games are often won or lost by stars stepping up or going AWOL. Game 1 was won by Harden stepping up. Game 2 was Harden playing like ass and nobody stepped up for Philly. Tatum didn't play well in limited time but guys like Brown and Brogdon stepped up. Every star player has bad games. When that happens, you need someone else on your team to step up. That's why one-star teams rarely go deep in the playoffs. Harden gets bad rep because his bad games often happen in crucial times, like elimination games. And in those games, he didn't just miss shots. He looked checked out. Game 2 was not that crucial. So let's see how this series unfolds.
So you're almost saying... Admiral, but Mistaken. Spoiler I know he wasn't the admiral, but close enough... for me... in the later afternoon...
Not an easy thing to knock off the Celtics under any circumstances, but depending on one star that cant give you consistently high level results (Harden) and your other star (Embiid) always has uncertainty about his health, don't stand a chance (everything else being status quo).
Lol, at least you are recycling excuses instead of creating new ones..... Harden is playing with the MVP alongside a really good cast of supporting players and borderline stars like Harris and Maxey.... If anything Philly has the advantage if we count regular season Harden...
Embiid played like an mvp to you? Boston are the betting favorite on all platforms but according to local expert salvy philly has the advantage
