For a half on the road on Saturday against the Miami Heat, it looked like the Philadelphia 76ers were set up for a loss. They were struggling to take care of the basketball, Joel Embiid was struggling both from the floor and from the free-throw line, and it was the second night of a back-to-back.
Luckily for them, Tobias Harris stepped up in a big way to keep the Sixers afloat before Embiid awoke after halftime.
Harris had 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and he knocked down all three triples in the first half. So despite Embiid struggling and the team being so shorthanded, the Sixers were only down by seven at the half and they were able to rally and beat the Heat 109-98.
“Tobias saved us in the first half,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Without Tobias, I think he had 15 in the first half. Without that, we are in trouble, so he kept us afloat, because that game could’ve gone away from us three or four times, and he would make a shot. Then Seth (Curry) started making shots and then Joel got it going. Once Joel gets it going, then everybody gets shots because you have to double and once you do that, we get open shots.”
This was an effort the Sixers desperately needed. Philadelphia relies so heavily on Embiid and if he doesn’t get going, they need others to step up. Harris has been heavily criticized this season, but his effort in Miami on Saturday was one the team really needed.
“I was just trying to bring some energy out there,” said Harris. “I thought we were a little bit too lax. So just being aggressive. Obviously, I found some good looks from 3. Teammates was able to find me and in the second half we just let this thing rollover.”
It also helped that the Sixers were able to play some stellar defense in order to get the job done.
“Obviously we got down early, but we used our defense to climb back into the game,” Harris finished. “We just stayed composed all throughout the second half.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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