Chapter 1558 Sacrifice

After returning to Philadelphia for two days of rest, the 76ers faced the next game, and this time it was at home. With two days of rest, everyone was in much better condition.

Jiang Xue also brought Vivian to the scene and sat behind the 76ers rest area to cheer for Qin Hao.

Before the game started, Qin Hao turned sideways and whispered to Jiang Xue.

Until the game was about to start and his teammates were calling him, he turned around and smiled at Butler and Xiaoka: "Play well later."

The two were a little puzzled. Butler rolled his eyes and said: "It's as if we didn't play well in normal times. Didn't we just lose to the Trail Blazers?"

Qin Hao just smiled and didn't comment.

The game started soon.

This time the 76ers' opponent was the Hawks.

From the beginning of the game, the 76ers had the upper hand, but Qin Hao didn't shoot much, he was organizing and creating opportunities for his teammates.

After a few minutes, the 76ers maintained their lead, but what disappointed the fans was that Qin Hao only took two shots, and none of them went in.

Fortunately, Butler and Xiaoka performed well, and the two became the strong points of the 76ers.

"Beep..."

Coach Luke called a timeout and started to make substitutions, replacing Qin Hao with Sessions.

This surprised Butler and others, and they all looked at Qin Hao. Why did he replace him after just a few minutes?

"Well, Qin's physical fitness has not fully recovered. Let him rest more." Coach Luke explained, and suddenly frowned and asked: "You can't even handle the Hawks without Qin?"

"That's not the case."

"How is it possible."

Everyone shook their heads.

Qin Hao smiled at everyone, then sat on the bench, turned his head and chatted with Jiang Xue, making Jiang Xue laugh, and didn't know what he said.

Butler was a little helpless. Qin Hao really hasn't recovered his physical fitness yet? It's been a few days, it shouldn't be.

After a while, the timeout ended.

The players from both sides returned to the court, and Qin Hao also turned around and looked at the court. Coach Luke sat down next to him, and the two talked while watching the game on the court.

"Qin, you are sacrificing too much like this." Coach Luke said.

The reason why Qin Hao was replaced so early was actually Qin Hao's request. He hoped to give Butler and Xiaoka more opportunities to be independent.

If he was on the court, Butler and Xiaoka would hardly have the opportunity to be independent. At their level, it is not easy to go further.

It can be said that Butler and Xiaoka have reached the level of "star", but they are still far from "superstar" or even "superstar".

Others don't know, but Qin Hao knows that they all have the potential to become "superstars", or at least "superstars".

It would be a pity if it was wasted like this.

When playing against the Trail Blazers before, what Coach Luke said touched Qin Hao deeply.

So after returning to Philadelphia, Qin Hao discussed with Coach Luke that he would give Butler and Kawhi more opportunities to be independent. He could sacrifice his personal data and even his playing time. Coach Luke also said that the team could sacrifice the record. As long as Butler and Kawhi can grow, it would be worth it.

"It doesn't matter." Qin Hao smiled and said, "If there were no Jimmy and Kawhi, we would not have won the championship last season. What's more, they have such potential. As a brother, this is what I should do."

"Yeah." Coach Luke nodded, and he also agreed with this.

The regular season record can be sacrificed. After all, they are already the defending champions. The most important thing is not the regular season record, but whether they can win the championship again.

......

On the court.

Butler took the ball outside the three-point line, took a tentative step, then broke through, dribbled only one step and retreated, and made a three-point shot.

After that, Butler grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball forward. Sessions was already running down the court. He caught the ball without delay and passed it to Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi Leonard caught the ball and took three steps to slam dunk with one hand.

In a blink of an eye, a few minutes passed. There was not much time left in the first quarter.

The Hawks called a timeout.

Coach Luke also replaced Butler, Kawhi Leonard and other main players with substitutes.

At the end of the first quarter, the 76ers led by 9 points.

When the second quarter started, Coach Luke was uncharacteristic and sent Qin Hao up, which surprised everyone. Qin Hao rarely played at the beginning of the second quarter before. This rotation time was Butler or Kawhi Leonard, playing with the substitute lineup.

Qin Hao had not played with the substitute lineup for a long time.

Coach Luke did not explain this.

For Qin Hao, it made no difference which lineup he played with, and it was the same when he played with Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, Speights, and Mozkov. Moreover, under his organization and connection, this lineup played much stronger than usual, occupying an absolute advantage, and the score difference quickly widened to more than ten points.

This is also related to the Hawks' lack of strength, but many people still find it difficult to understand Coach Luke's deployment today.

Later, Coach Luke consciously staggered the playing time of Qin Hao, Butler, and Xiaoka, giving Butler and Xiaoka the opportunity to lead the team alone, or the two of them together, not with Qin Hao.

This way, the burden on the two men's shoulders is heavier, but it is also an opportunity for them to better show themselves.

"Ball."

Xiao Ka ran back, took the initiative to ask for the ball, then played singles, changed direction continuously, then broke through, took two steps forward and suddenly jumped up, slammed with one hand.

In a blink of an eye, the game has reached the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, and Qin Hao is not on the court, and even Butler is not there. Only Xiao Ka led a few people to play.

At this time, Xiao Ka, as the core of the team, needs him to stand up and take the initiative to score, and use the score to extinguish the opponent's counterattack.

Seeing this ball scored, Qin Hao nodded secretly. Xiao Ka is mature and plays very steadily. Now there is no problem for him to be independent.

A few minutes passed quickly.

At the end of the game, the 76ers defeated the Hawks 112:105.

Qin Hao played only 24 minutes in total, scored 18 points, plus 6 rebounds and 8 assists, Butler scored 25 points, and Xiao Ka scored 28 points, the highest score of the team.

......

In the next few games, the opponents were not very strong, and Qin Hao's playing time was only 27-8 minutes on average, with a score of about 20 points.

However, many people noticed that Qin Hao played more time with the substitute lineup and less time with the main lineup.

This even gave people an illusion that Qin Hao was no longer the star player of the team. Even some fans complained and accused Coach Luke of not knowing how to use players and messing around. How could an MVP like Qin Hao be used like this? Is his brain gone?