PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers walked away with a 126-121 win over the defending champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, and the focus was on the star duos.
The Nuggets’ duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic matched up with Sixers stars Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid and the contest didn’t disappoint. All four players played well: Embiid scored 41 points with 10 assists and seven rebounds.
However, Tobias Harris played a key role. The reliable veteran scored 24 points on an efficient 8-for-10 shooting. He knocked down two 3s and went 6-for-6 from the foul line.
“Tobias had the big stretch when we were struggling, which was huge,” coach Nick Nurse said of Harris. “They kind of got the little lead and we didn’t have a whole lot going offensively and he scored about three buckets in a row and they were all tough buckets and that was huge.”
The stretch Nurse referred to was early in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets had stormed back to take the lead heading into the fourth, and Philadelphia was scrambling. Harris scored eight quick points in the fourth, and his defensive effort was huge for the Sixers.
“He was big,” added Maxey. “Especially, in the fourth, he was big. We couldn’t get no offense going, he made some tough shots and he made like three baskets for us, he made two big free throws. So he was good. Like I said, he was great defensively, too.”
Harris made some key shots on another night that he is going to be overshadowed by a monstrous performance from Embiid and by what Maxey was able to do down the stretch.
“We had a few lapses, especially in that third quarter when they made their run, and no one is talking about him, but Tobias was huge again, as he’s been the last couple of games and all season really,” Embiid added. “He was huge. Especially, to start that fourth quarter. He had a key couple baskets that kept us in and we just closed it out, but we got a long way to go.”
When the Nuggets doubled Embiid at the nail, the big fella found Harris open for shots. The veteran knocked down two triples in the third and made plenty of big plays for the Sixers.
“I thought he made them pay early in the second half, too, when they were doubling Joel at the high post there, and he was just knocked down a couple of shots,” Nurse finished. “Again, it’s pretty good to get 24 on 10 shots.”
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