The Philadelphia 76ers looked dead in the water on Sunday night in Indianapolis. They were down 20 points on the road without their best player in Joel Embiid and it looked like they would continue to remain winless without the star big man.
Then, Tobias Harris locked in, the team switched to a zone defense, and they were able to rally and beat the Indiana Pacers 119-110 for an impressive win without the big fella. This was a game they most certainly would lose in the past and it was mostly due to Harris refusing to let the Sixers lose in this one.
“That was great,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We ran our punch series, punch-4. What I liked about it we did it on both sides of the floor. Our guys executed it, it gives us spacing, I thought it organized us, and Tobias was very efficient.”
Harris finished with 27 points on 10-for-19 shooting and he scored 10 in the fourth quarter to help Philadelphia storm back in this one. This was the performance that an All-Star player put on and it was one that showed that he has that right mindset.
“It’s a winning mentality,” Harris explained. “I was out there today to get buckets to help our team win and we started calling a couple sets for me to get on the block to go to work and I was taking advantage of the moment and opportunity…For me, it’s just the fourth quarter, game, like that, with Joel out, just get to a spot and get a bucket for the team and come back.”
Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, and Dwight Howard all played a role in this win as well. Thybulle was a menace on defense and Korkmaz was able to knock down some huge shots while Howard was terrific off the bench, but Harris was still the main catalyst on offense to get them going again.
“I said the other day, Tobias is putting on a show and I think we all just need to sit back and enjoy it,” said Thybulle. “He’s doing a great job and he’s doing everything we’re asking for him and more. He’s playing on both ends at a high level.”
With Embiid out, Harris was the team’s go-to scorer in this situation and Howard made sure he knew that when he came back out onto the floor.
“Tobias came in the game and I went to him, I said ‘Hey, don’t settle, nobody can guard you on the floor. Go get buckets’,” Howard explained. “He did that. He didn’t settle, he attacked the basket, he put the pressure on the rim, put the pressure on the refs, and he made big plays.”
Howard did add that he has a new nickname for Harris.
Dwight Howard says he calls Tobias Harris “Prince Harris” in reference to the Dave Chappelle “Prince” skit. This started after Harris’ game winner against the Lakers. #Sixers pic.twitter.com/n7djD4Mzkg
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) February 1, 2021
This was an impressive win overall and Harris is definitely continuing to make a serious case to be on the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Now, they will need to move forward and complete the road trip strong on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
