There's a saying that if you don't give it a try, you don't know how good you can be.

Harden played strong as the Thunder's sixth man before, and cut a lot of 20+ or even 30+ games as a substitute, but after playing this game, people found out that he can actually do better, and scoring 43 points on 13 shots shows that this may not be his limit.

In other words, people realized for the first time that the player who pardoned Perkins for 2,600 yuan this summer and renewed his contract with a five-year salary cap was really much better than they could have imagined.

Perhaps, the Thunder already have 2 MVP-caliber players?

Of course, this kind of voice is only a small part, and after Harden played such a statistic, in addition to the Russian city media hype, most of the mainstream media, including ESPN, raised a lot of questions.

"It's ability to get free throws, but 20 free throws in a game, that's obviously a bit excessive."

"We didn't mean it, but it was an ugly game, the whistle was blowing all over the sky, and the image that echoed in my head was Harden standing at the free-throw line."

"There's no doubt that it's an ugly way of playing, and if you continue to make a penalty like this, the spectacle of the game will plummet."

……

The overwhelming doubts have made the Thunder the focus of the league's attention.

Before the game against the Pistons on this day, Tang Tian was also asked these questions by reporters.

"Will James Harden continue to play like this?"

"The way he plays? I think he's doing the same way he used to, just getting smarter, and those guys are just selectively ignoring it, and they all know that Harden got 20 free throws, but has anyone paid attention to his 10-of-13 shooting and 3-of-4 three-pointers? Tang Tian asked rhetorically.

"But that's 20 free throws."

"yes, he can't get that many free throws every night, but it doesn't really matter, the important thing is that he's playing more efficiently than before, and if you really have to worry about it, you can look at tonight's opponent, Corey Margeti, who averaged close to 10 free throws per game for several seasons, does that make a difference?"

In front of the media, Tang Tian paid great attention to protecting his disciples.

But as he said, Harden is really much better than in his previous life, and there is nothing wrong with the description that he is playing smarter.

That night, the Thunder faced the Pistons.

Serge Ibaka and Westbrook are still suspended, but the Pistons are now a real underdog, and now they are newcomers like Monroe and Knight.

The two sides were deadlocked for a quarter, and a wave of 15-0 games in the second half of the second quarter was directly spent.

The Thunder finally beat their opponents to win four in a row, Durant scored 21 points, and Harden continued to play strongly, playing three quarters, scoring 26 points, 6 assists and 4 turnovers on 7-of-15 shooting and 11-of-12 free throws.

The course of this game was uneventful, and the results were not too surprising, and even Durant Harden's play was within the normal range.

However, Corey Margeti's words in an interview after the game became the biggest highlight.

Before the game, Tang Tian gave him an example, although he did not play in this game, the reporter at the home stadium still interviewed him after the game.

"Did he really say that?" Margeti wasn't angry or anything, but was a little flattered.

When confirmed by reporters, he smiled and said: "Yes, people don't understand, but it's not that easy to get free throws, because what you encounter can be very malicious, I hope Harden can build muscle properly, which will reduce the risk of injury." ”

Margeti was not only not angry, but also gave Harden some advice.

The reporter was surprised and asked him what he thought of the Thunder.

"I think this experience has made them stronger than they used to be, and they will win this season's championship."

After Margeti's remarks in this interview came out, fans burst into laughter, and the star of the last century was in the twilight of his career, and people found out that he also had such a cute side.

"Let's play for the Thunder, man, we're missing a shooting guard!"

Even on Margeti's personal Twitter, some Thunder fans were powdered by his remarks and left such a message.

"Man, thank you for your support, but I'm part of the Pistons right now."

Margeti's reply also attracted him more passers-by.

Harden's "touching porcelain" finally became popular with a star of the last century, and this result is really surprising.

After the game against the Pistons, the Thunder returned to their home court.

They ushered in a three-game home in a row, and after a one-game loss to Spurs, they also welcomed Serge Ibaka back and won two games in a row.

After a player was suspended for a brawl, they have a very good record of 6 wins and 1 loss in 7 games.

And more importantly, Harden's growth, with an average of 28 points per game in the five games he came back to, is like another rising superstar.

This kind of play also makes fans look forward to what kind of terrifying team the Thunder will become when Westbrook also returns.

Time flies, and after the end of this wave of three-in-a-row home games, the incident also came to mid-March.

The season has also come to the last critical point in time, the layoff deadline (the cutoff deadline for qualifying for playoff games).

Some players who are still on the offensive and want to play in the playoffs will take the initiative to apply for a buyout to join the team of their choice.

When he was in Rockets and Cavaliers before, Tang Tian also renewed many people one after another at this point in time.

However, the Thunder now have a full lineup, and there are 15 people on the roster, so theoretically they don't need to participate.

But on the contrary, during the team's daily training during the day, Bazemore injured his wrist, and the test was positive, and he was directly reimbursed for the season.

The sudden injury made everyone unprepared, including Tang Tian.

Although Bazemore was not so important to the Thunder after Harden's return, with Tucker switching to the No. 4 position, he was the only pure backup point guard besides Soflosa.

Now that they are injured, the team can only focus on the free agent market, and they have less than half a day left.

"There are 15 people in the team now, we have to sign people and we have to cut them, and Turyav is the only option." Tang Tian's office, Jones was analyzing.

Tucker switched to the No. 4 position, and the team looked a little crowded on the inside, and Collison and O'Quinn didn't get many opportunities after Ibaka returned, let alone Turiaf, who was basically retiring.

And Jones said he was the only one because his contract was only one year's salary, and the loss was minimal in layoffs.

"So who can we sign?"