The Philadelphia 76ers as a whole have had a lot of offensive success in the first two games of their Round 1 series with the Washington Wizards. They scored 125 points in their Game 1 win and then scored 130 in Game 2 as they have gotten contributions from everybody.
There is one Sixer who is off to a terrific start and that is Tobias Harris. The veteran out of Tennessee is averaging 28.0 points and he’s shooting 57.1% from the floor through two games as the Wizards have not had much of an answer for him.
A lot of Washington’s defenders are a little smaller than Harris and he can use his height advantage there. Then, when the Wizards throw a bigger defender at him, he can then use his speed to be able to get a bucket that way.
“Biggest thing is I’m just taking my time,” said Harris. “That’s the first thought in my mind and use my strength first. If a guy can hold all this weight, my speed, and skill, and at the end of the day, just be able to rise up and shoot a shot.”
Harris has had a couple of sparring partners to get himself ready for the postseason. He has called on Paul Reed, who is a bigger defender, as well as Rayjon Tucker to be able to step in and provide him a more athletic defender to try and attack. That has allowed Harris to see different types of defenders and prepare for them.
“That comes with a lot of prep work,” Harris explained. “I prep a lot with Paul Reed and Rayjon so I get two different feels. Paul is a really good post defender with his size and length and Tuck is a really physical guy. Both of them foul out every time, but they give a good match. It’s about the work that goes on behind the scenes to be able to get to those spots. I appreciate them for pushing me.”
[exco_embed id=”d8b9c085-4226-44f1-8495-36ad4e2aa62d”]
This has been a continuation of Harris’ strong regular season where he shot 51.2% from the floor to average his 19.5 points. This has continued his star transformation under coach Doc Rivers who has unlocked his full offensive potential.
“A big emphasis for me was being more equipped and ready to finish better at the rim,” Harris explained. “I think that has opened up a lot of things for me throughout this year. Finishing verse contact and getting to my spots. That was the biggest thing that I worked on in the time we had his offseason.”
Playing on a team like the Sixers where he has two All-Star teammates in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid along with Rivers’ guidance has been helpful for his success in both the regular season and the playoffs.
“Being able to figure out where my spots on and simplify the game,” he finished. “All those things have been able to add up and when you’re out there with a team and different guys that compliment your game, in a good way, that also helps that improvement, for sure.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[vertical-gallery id=46444]
[lawrence-related id=46483,46480,46477]