Late in games, the Philadelphia 76ers have a few options they can turn to such as Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons, or even Seth Curry. Lately, the team has been turning to Tobias Harris in close situations.
They went to him in a Jan. 16 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies where he turned the ball over late, but that did not deter coach Doc Rivers from going to him again on Wednesday. The Sixers put the ball in his hands and he delivered as he rose up and knocked down the jumper to lift Philadelphia to a 107-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
It is the continued morphing of Harris into the team’s closer.
“We’re trying to just keep getting him to his spot,” said Rivers. “We ran a similar play, not the same, but a little bit similar in Memphis, and he got too deep, he went out of bounds, and we told him ‘You were on your spot and then you passed it up. Get to your spot, elevate, shoot. Keep the game simple.’ When he does that, he is unbelievable.”
This has been a continuous process for Harris in the 2020-21 season. Rivers has been working with him on making quick decisions and not put the ball on the floor. Overall, he is having a terrific season and he had 24 points overall on Wednesday night so he was just having a good night from start to finish.
“Just confidence,” said Harris. “Being able to want to be in those spots. I’m a person that visualizes myself in those spots so when the opportunity came, we came out of the timeout, and me and Seth were talking and discussing how they’re more likely to switch that pick-and-roll coming off Joel isn’t open and just let me ISO at the top and get to my spot.”
TOBIAS HARRIS FOR THE WIN AGAINST THE LAKERS … CASH 💰 pic.twitter.com/hws1zg3nnx
— ESPN (@espn) January 28, 2021
Rivers and the Sixers explained that the play was going to be for Embiid, but the Lakers expectedly cut that off and that allowed Harris to do what he does and rise up for the shot. He just needs to continue to do his thing on the offensive end.
“That’s a shot I work on time and time again, but in those moments, just being confident enough to let it go and being OK with the result,” Harris added. “Tonight, it fared well.”
The Sixers will now hit the road to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
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