Blah blah blah “Ben Simmons only scored six points” and blah blah blah “Joel Embiid was in foul trouble.” Doc Rivers this and Doc Rivers that, and yadda yadda yadda.

It’s always interesting to absorb media and fan reaction after a game and see what people are talking about. Based on some of what I’m reading this morning, you’d think the Sixers lost on Sunday afternoon, but they didn’t. They were a little flat after a week off and didn’t look like themselves in the first half, but they handled a decent effort from Washington and still went on to win by seven points.

Maybe the Simmons/Embiid/reffing/Rivers stuff becomes an issue at some point in the playoffs, and we wouldn’t be so naive as to dismiss those concerns outright, but to me, you have to be ecstatic with this Tobias Harris performance. 37 points on 52% shooting? 2-5 from three (40%) and 5-5 from the foul line? It was incredible to watch in person.

One of the biggest stories going into this season, and this postseason, was Harris’ play, since he was making a ton of money and needed to be a bona fide #2 scorer behind Embiid. With Simmons’ offense remaining stagnant year-to-year, and Seth Curry and Danny Green playing smaller supporting roles, the Sixers were always going to need these kinds of nights from Tobias, and he delivered in a big way on Sunday afternoon, going for 28 first-half points and stepping it up to keep his team in the game while Embiid sat on the bench.

For your viewing pleasure on a Monday morning, here’s a short clip with all 15 of Tobias’ made baskets:


Just brilliant. A work of art. Let’s break it down one through 15:

  1. catch and drive, attack the close out for a bucket at the rim
  2. mismatch, back down smaller player for turnaround jumper
  3. post-up, turnaround baseline jumper
  4. corner pindown double stagger, midrange jumper
  5. transition into early pick and roll, floater in the lane
  6. another catch, drive, and close out attack
  7. BLOB – two screen options, goes to left for a catch and shoot jumper
  8. catch and shoot three
  9. pick and roll – left hand to the rack
  10. mismatch – post smaller guy for lob
  11. some sort of delayed pistol/hand off looking thing, sees the space and attacks rim
  12. early shot clock PNR, goes left instead
  13. back door cut
  14. transition – trailing catch and shoot three
  15. early shot clock – PNR into Euro step

It’s so good. It is the very best of Tobias Harris all wrapped up into a three minute clip. He is so smart at recognizing what’s in front of him, and if he gets Raul Neto or a guard as a matchup, he’ll just back that player down. If Rui Hachimura or a big is closing out, he’ll drive right by them. He is going to his left, making the right option reads, and catching and shooting where necessary.

Afterward, Doc Rivers was asked about Harris’ December struggles, and if he said anything to him back then:

“Tobias I had full faith in. He struggled the first couple of games (this season) but from his body work and while coaching him with the Clippers and knowing and watching him and understanding what we were trying to do with him in training camp, I just really believed it would take over at some point. And it has.”

It really has. The assertive and dialed-in Harris showed up big time throughout the season, and he just looked so much more automatic with his decision making.

Said Harris:

“I would say the past two or three months I’ve been preparing for this type of moment, preparing myself. Just telling the team as well, it’s like, ‘this is the nitty-gritty, this is the playoffs.’ I’ve been there, you know, only X amount of times in my career, but I’ve taken from each playoff experience something that I want to bring. For us as a group, it’s really to stay in mentally through the highs and lows of the game and to really be locked-in on the play that’s happening right now. That’s just the message that I continue to tell the team, and I think that’s going to just help us for where we’re trying to go.”

It’s hard to disagree. He’s been more or less steady the entire season, and on days where something unforeseen happens, like Joel Embiid foul trouble, he steps it up big time to help the team out.

Great performance from Tobias Harris. That needs to be focus #1 right now. Posidelphia, not negadelphia.