PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers needed some defensive stops in the second half when they hosted the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. The Sixers and the Magic were locked in a tight battle and the team that played defense first was going to walk away with a win.
Just as they did in the win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, Philadelphia turned to Tobias Harris to play defense against one of the opposition’s best scorers. In the win over Denver, it was Jamal Murray. On Wednesday, it was Magic rookie Paolo Banchero.
Harris locked Banchero up and he was a part of the talented Magic rookie shooting only 1-for-10 in the second half as the Sixers knocked off Orlando 105-94.
“He was good,” said Joel Embiid. “He took on the matchup. Obviously, Banchero has been playing well. We did a good job as a team and especially him.”
Orlando cut a 14-point lead down to one early in the fourth quarter and when they re-inserted Banchero into the game looking to steal another win as they did on Monday. Instead, Harris led a defensive charge against the rookie and that was a big reason why Philadelphia walked away victorious.
“Me and Dan Burke have been talking about him a lot about Tobias has given us everything on both ends,” said Matisse Thybulle. “Against the Nuggets at the end of the game, he guarded Murray. In this game, Banchero. He just continues to step up for us defensively and then just being really consistent on offense, too.”
After a shaky start on offense, Harris did end up with 16 points and he shot 7-for-10 from the floor and 2-for-4 from deep. When he gets to his spots on the offensive end and is able to find his rhythm, then he’s really tough to stop. He has always been that type of player.
It is the defense that stood out though on Wednesday. His defense on Banchero was a really big catalyst for getting this win.
“It’s not like he’s just rebounding well or he’s playing the passing lanes,” added Thybulle. “He’s being a super solid defender and being extremely versatile with who he’s doing it against.”
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