The Philadelphia 76ers have not had the type of success they expected to have in the playoffs thus far against the Boston Celtics. They have not been able to match up with Celtics stars Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker all series and it is mostly due to the struggles of their supposed shot makers.
Tobias Harris is the biggest culprit at the moment as he has come up very small in this series. For a guy the Sixers paid $180 million to come up big in the playoffs, he has done the complete opposite as he is averaging just 14.3 points and shooting 33.3% from the floor and he is 0-for-10 from deep.
On top of that, he is not even the team’s second or third-leading scorer in this series. Joel Embiid is obviously leading the team in scoring, but he is then followed by Josh Richardson and Shake Milton before Harris and Harris has played more minutes than both of them.
“I’m trying to get into a rhythm, as we go on,” explained Harris. “Adjusting to the style and how we’re playing. You know I have had good looks around the basket. A lot of tip-ins that just didn’t fall, but I’m trying to do whatever I can to get myself into a rhythm.”
Tobias Harris this series:
14.3 PPG
33.3 FG%
0 3P% (0-10) pic.twitter.com/0dSuGmaWWr— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 22, 2020
To Harris’ credit, he is doing other things to be effective on the floor. He is averaging 11.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists, but the fact of the matter is, the Sixers need him to put the ball in the basket. He has got to find his shooting stroke again in Game 4 or else this series will be over on Sunday.
At the same time, even if he does find it, Philadelphia probably will still lose that game due to the fact that Tatum had a rough Game 3 and he is primed for a bounce-back game. The Sixers still have confidence in their shooters, but it may be too late now. [lawrence-related id=37068,37065,37058]