BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers took a 117-99 loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. They were unable to overcome their shooting and rebounding struggles.
Philadelphia shot 39.4% on the night compared to 52.7% for Boston, and the Sixers were outrebounded, 56-28. With numbers like those, it doesn’t matter that the Sixers held the Celtics to 5-for-22 from deep.
Once again, Tobias Harris had a tough night in what has become a bad stretch for him. He shot 5-for-19 for 13 points, and he grabbed only two rebounds. Coach Nick Nurse has always preached that a player can have a bad shooting night and still contribute. That’s what he needs out of Harris right now.
“Listen, he certainly had some opportunities,” Nurse said after the loss. “He had some catch-and-shoot 3s. He had some decent looks at drives. I thought he had some tough drives, too, that were pretty well-guarded, but it’s so much more.”
The more that Nurse is pointing out is the lack of rebounds. Harris averages 6.1 rebounds on the season. To only grab two on a night without Embiid on the floor is just not acceptable. Despite the poor shooting, that is where Harris can still contribute.
“You know me, I’m always saying you can have a 2-for-12 night and still play well,” Nurse added. “We need some more rebounding. We need a little bit more ball movement, I think — out of a number of those guys in the starting lineup, not just him. You can’t force it. I know you want to be aggressive, but if things aren’t there, you’ve got to move it on to the next man.”
Harris will figure this out. He always does. Until then, he has to contribute in other ways such as rebounding, playmaking and defending. He wasn’t able to do that against the Celtics on Tuesday.
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