NEW YORK–The Philadelphia 76ers were missing Joel Embiid on Saturday afternoon as they looked to eliminate the Brooklyn Nets on the road and move on to the Eastern Conference semifinals. Therefore, they needed somebody to step up and take over the scoring load.
That somebody was Tobias Harris, the only Sixer who could get into any type of offensive rhythm. Philadelphia shot 36-for-91 as a team on the day, good for only 39.6%. Harris shot 11-for-19 and had 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds in a 96-88 win and eliminate the Nets.
Harris provided both the scoring and rebounding the Sixers were missing without Embiid and Philadelphia needed all of it in this one.
“Tobias is always important,” said PJ Tucker. “Nobody talks enough about Tobias on our team. To be able to have somebody his size, especially our front 4 to be able to switch in certain situations to be able to guard bigs, guard guards, and take advantage of rebounding and being able to take advantage of teams with small guards.”
He was also terrific on the defensive end, being able to ensure the Sixers got enough stops on the perimeter to fuel their offense. Philadelphia is one of those teams that need to get stops in order to get out and run on the offensive end of the floor.
“It’s hard with Joel to be able to do that a lot, but when he’s out, it’s a big factor for us,” Tucker added. “So Tobias was big on both sides of the floor today.”
Harris was huge on the offensive end on Saturday. When considering James Harden and Tyrese Maxey shot a combined 10-for-38, they needed it in this one.
“He was great, man,” Harden said of Harris. “Just attacking the basket, finishing around the rim, knocking down 3s, defensively being great. It’s a special performance for him in a close out and we needed him.”
Harris has always been a consummate professional on this Sixers team and he has been a vocal leader. Whatever Philadelphia needs from him, he steps up to the challenge and Saturday was another example of that.
“Tobias is a pro’s pro,” added De’Anthony Melton. “He always locked in and that’s why I love him. Tobias, he’s always telling us to stay with him throughout the whole year. So go see him have a series like this is huge. I love to see it.”
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire