When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired James Harden at the deadline, it changed a lot of things for them on the offensive end. Obviously, roles would have to be changed up and down the lineup when a team adds a talent like Harden to the roster.
The one player who had to change his game the most has been Tobias Harris. The veteran out of Tennessee has had to go from the team’s No. 2 option and a guy who had the ball in his hands to just becoming a catch-and-shoot guy and that’s something he has had to adjust to.
After a rough start with Harden, Harris has found his niche as he is shooting 44.7% from deep over his last 15 games and this comes after shooting 5-for-6 from deep in a win over the Indiana Pacers. Of course, it helps that he now has a point guard to get him the ball as that helps in a lot of ways.
“It’s comfortable for me at this point right now,” said Harris. “I put a lot of work to kind of work my way back to shooting at the level that I know I can shoot at.”
In the 2020-21 season, Harris shot the 3-ball at 39.4% and that number has dipped to 36.7% in the 2021-22 season. The number dipped due to the absence of Ben Simmons getting him the ball in his spots.
Harris is a rhythm player. He has to be able to get into his spots and get the shots that he is comfortable shooting in order to be effective for this team and while Tyrese Maxey has taken huge steps forward, he is not quite the playmaker Simmons was. The addition of Harden has helped Harris in that respect.
“Don’t get me wrong, at one point in the season, it’s tough to see what I was shooting from 3, but I always just visualized kind of basically that I’m gonna get myself back up to where I want to be and not fully there yet,” Harris added. “As you continue to go just finding a space and a rhythm is big for me, especially as we get ready for playoffs.”
Harris and the Sixers have three games left before the postseason starting with a matchup with the Toronto Raptors on Thursday to finish up a 3-game road trip.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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