PHILADELPHIA–In order for the Philadelphia 76ers to move forward in the playoffs, they will need everybody to be out there contributing on the floor on both ends. They will need everybody to step up and give the team strong play in order to get this done.
Tobias Harris was able to do that in Monday’s 1112-97 Game 2 win over the Toronto Raptors as he contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds while also playing strong defense on Raptors star Pascal Siakam.
Siakam shot just 7-for-20 to score his 20 points and Harris was the primary defender on him all night. This has been a recent trend for Harris to go along with his strong offensive play and he has been able to give the team some much-needed help on defense.
“Just making his looks hard,” said Harris. “He’s a tough matchup just with his size, but I try to use my quickness laterally and my strength to make him make second moves out there. So, just really reading some of the things that he wants to do and make every look that he gets a tough look.”
Siakam averaged 22.8 points on 49.4% shooting from the floor during the season and he averaged 30.3 points per game against the Sixers during the regular season. Harris has made sure that he doesn’t have the same success in this series.
“With a player like that, they run a lot of sets through him,” Harris added. “He’s a good player getting downhill as well, so just trying to beat him to the spot and make him take tough 2s.”
Siakam is not an easy matchup. He’s long, he’s athletic, he’s skilled, but Harris has been able to hold his own and make life tough on him. He hasn’t backed down from the challenge.
“He’s taking the matchup personally and that’s a good thing,” said Tyrese Maxey. “He’s on an island sometimes with Siakam and he’s holding his own. I’m proud of him and he has to keep doing the same thing.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=62954]
[lawrence-related id=62960,62957,62951]