When the Philadelphia 76ers lost Jimmy Butler in free agency, they were losing the guy they would give the ball to late in games to close it out. So in his place, that responsibility now falls on Tobias Harris who they signed to a $180 million contract extension in the offseason.
On Saturday, he took another step toward that title in his growth as a player. He drilled a huge 3-pointer late to give the Sixers the lead and he then forced a turnover on the following possession as he closed the game on both ends of the floor.
“I always want to take over,” said Harris. “That’s part of my game and being a scorer is being able to find mismatches in plays to take over. If I’m put in those positions to make things happen, I can do a lot of damage.”
Tobias Harris always wants to find his offense in the flow, but he can take games over late too #Sixers pic.twitter.com/DO8rTCmFXf
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 19, 2020
Harris had 15 points on the night on Saturday which did not lead the team, but he did make all of the right plays down the stretch. The go-ahead shot late was not even supposed to be for him. It was a broken play and he made the right read out of it in order to get himself open for the shot.
“He’s been locked in,” said Ben Simmons. “He’s being aggressive, taking shots, we want him to keep shooting the ball and keep taking those open looks. He’s a great player.”
Ben Simmons reacts to the shot Tobias Harris made late #Sixers pic.twitter.com/GIAzrmXEnE
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 19, 2020
It is continuous progression such as this one that pleases coach Brett Brown and his team. This needs to become a night in and night out type of aspect for him moving forward. Even when Joel Embiid returns from injury, they need that type of perimeter play to close games out. In today’s NBA, you need to have a guy who can break down a defense from the perimeter and make plays off the dribble.
“He wasn’t bashful, just look at his 3-point shots,” said Brown postgame. “He was 4-for-8, he did a great job of finding that range and it’s just a part of his game we’ve discussed that we want to grow that.”
The Sixers head to Brooklyn on Monday to face the Nets as they look to continue to find their footing on the road. [lawrence-related id=23834,23827,23817]