CAMDEN, N.J.–The biggest concern around the Philadelphia 76ers is more often than not, focused on the play of Tobias Harris. Despite averaging 18.3 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 47.9% from the floor, there are always concerns about his game.
Maybe it’s because he is now the second highest paid player on the team. Maybe it’s the tough shooting start he has gotten off to playing next to James Harde. Whatever the reason is, Harris continues to be under a microscope in Philadelphia.
Harris did knock down three big buckets in Sunday’s win over the New York Knicks, after receiving some encouragement from Harden to stay with it, but the veteran from Tennessee is not focused on that. He is worried about the team aspect.
“It’s not really a ‘finally’ type of thing,” said Harris. “It’s like through the course of the game, I’m taking the looks that are presented to me. Those were presented and I was able to capitalize on them. So it’s not really a ‘finally’, we maintained the lead the whole game. In Minnesota, we were up 20 the whole game. I’m not a guy who’s gonna be out just pressing for looks especially if the team is flowing. It’s been two games and the ball is gonna flow in different ways exploiting the matchups and how teams play us.”
The Sixers have played at a bit of a faster pace with Harden leading the way. That is the type of style Harris likes to play and he has had a lot of offensive success playing that way so this is his opportunity to get back going in the right direction again.
“I think my looks are good,” Harris added. “Obviously, I would love to make every single shot, but obviously, with time, I can see where these looks are coming from through the course of the game and see where I can impose my will at times as well, but the ball is gonna flow how it flows and I just gotta be ready for whenever the opportunity comes my way and be OK with that and I am.”
Philadelphia has a real chance to win a championship with Harden and Joel Embiid as the two of them are elite players in this league. As time goes on, Harris will have to contribute a bit more, but he understands that and there are other ways for him to help win rather than just scoring the ball.
“As a group, we have to be OK with that because different guys are gonna have different nights, different mismatches, different matchups, but the main goal here is to win,” he added. “We have an opportunity to fight for a championship and do what we can to win basketball games so good players, including myself, different things are going to incorporate to winning basketball. It could be defense, rebounding, it could just be a leader in chemistry all the way down the line so that’s what winning basketball is about.”
The Sixers have 22 games left before the playoffs and as long as he keeps getting good shots, odds are that Harris will find his rhythm heading into the postseason.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook
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