Beijing time, March 8, today, the NBA ushered in a focus battle, The Philadelphia 76ers at home to meet the Chicago Bulls, this is a showdown between the second and fourth in the East, the intensity can not be said. In the first quarter, Embiid took the lead in three points, then Harden assisted Sable's layup, Embiid also played 2+1, followed by Harden retreating to rain three points, the first quarter ended, the Bulls fell behind by 5 points 32-37; entering the second quarter, Niang hit the first three-pointer, Harden made a foul to take points, and at halftime, the 76ers led the opponent by 6 points at 59-53.
Easy side to fight again, 76ers under Harden's tandem quickly pulled the point difference to 14 points, after that, Embiid completed a one-handed dunk, the Bulls side, DeRozan joined hands with Lavin to score 3 points, Dotham quick attack 2 points, but Embiid strong kill basket again, Harris also played 2 +1, White did not hesitate to let go, the difficult board 2 points to return the gift, Embiid completely killed, and scored 2 points, however, Jones also returned 2 points on the basket, the game was suspended. Back from the suspension, White stopped the jumper to take 2 points first, Embiid scored 4 points in a row, White did not want to show weakness on the left side of the three-point rain, the third quarter ended, the 76ers 88-77 led the opponent by 11 points.
In the final quarter, Harden scored 2 points from his own shot, DeRozan first shot back to color, and then assisted Jones to score 2 points, just 15 seconds later, DeRozan hit two more free throws, Niang arced three separate flowers, the game was suspended. After the timeout, Harden first assisted Niang to hit a three-pointer, and then forced a 2-point shot under the basket, the Bulls side, Lavin three-point stop bleeding, but Harden assisted Isaiah Joe hit a three-pointer, Embiid scored 4 points in a row, Maxi's fast attack also played 2+1, the game was pulled to 16 points again, and the Bulls requested a timeout.
In the last 5 minutes, White stopped bleeding with three points, Maxi hit back with three points, White burst 2 points to score, and the two teams scored from each other's free throws. In the decisive moment, LaVine teamed up with TT to score 4 points, Maxi scored 2 points under the basket, TT basket also had, and soon, Harden assisted Sable to complete a powerful dunk, the Bulls were powerless to return to the sky, and finally the 76ers won the Bulls 121-106. After this game, the 76ers' record is 40-24, ranking second in the East, and the Bulls suffered five consecutive losses with a record of 39 wins and 26 losses, continuing to rank fourth in the East. In this game, Embiid played 36 minutes, 15 of 27, 12 of 16 from the free throw line, and shot down 43 points and 14 rebounds.
His outstanding performance also set a record, statistics show that Embiid set a league record for the season for the 21st time this season 30+10; Embiid also became the first 76ers player after Chamberlain to cut at least 40 points and 10 rebounds at least 10 times in a single season, and the latter had played this data 18 times in 1965-66, setting a 57-year record. Harden played 38 minutes, 5 of 15, 5 of 6 from the free throw line, contributing 16 points, 8 rebounds and 14 assists, Harden's scoring efficiency is average, but he is important for the team's tandem role. Harden also ushered in three major milestones in this campaign, the first major milestone, Harden surpassed Pierce to rise to the ninth place in the NBA's all-time free throw list; the second milestone, Harden's career three-point shooting equalized Reggie Miller and rose to third in history.
The third milestone, Harden surpassed Elgin Baylor in career scoring totals and rose to 31st in NBA history. In addition, Maxi had 17 points and 4 assists, Sebel 12 points, Niang 14 points, Harris 8 points; on the Bulls side, DeRozan had 23 points, 11 rebounds, LaVine 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, White 19 points, Green 5 points, Dawsom 11 points, Thompson 11 points and 9 rebounds, and Jones 8 points and 6 rebounds. It has to be said that the team with Harden is completely different from the team without Harden, and after Harden joined the 76ers, he is one step closer to the championship.