The Philadelphia 76ers are 1-0 to begin the 2020-21 NBA season after they knocked off the Washington Wizards on Wednesday behind strong efforts from Joel Embiid and bench personnel. The team needed that second unit to perform well because the starting lineup did not play well as a whole.
Tobias Harris had an especially rough night. To begin the second season of a 5-year $180 million contract, Harris shot 3-for-13 for 10 points and produced eight rebounds. He shot 0-for-4 from deep and none looked particularly close to going in.
For the Sixers to move forward, they need Harris to have big games and become the third star. That means getting back to the player he was with the Los Angeles Clippers under Doc Rivers.
“He just missed shots,” Rivers said of Harris. “I thought he was hesitant. I thought even that last drive when he made the free throws, I thought that should have been a dunk. We’ll watch the film. We’ll get him uncaged; he’ll be fine.”
One thing Rivers has been looking to help Harris do is get back to making quick decisions. He dribbled too much in the 2019-20 season due to the team asking him to do so much on the floor. The hope is he will not have to do as much in the 2020-21 season due to the team bringing in Seth Curry and Danny Green, but it looked as if he was still thinking too much out there and he was not able to get into a rhythm.
“I’m not smart enough to get in his head, but he’ll be fine,” Rivers said succinctly.
The Sixers will take on the New York Knicks on the road on Saturday. That will be Harris’ next opportunity to forget about this opening performance.
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