Tobias Harris is having a rough season. He had 14 points on 15 shots Monday night and is shooting well below his career averages. He’s actually down 10 percentage points from three this year and hovering around 45% from the floor.

The frustration boiled over during a pair of sequences in the Houston game, first when he missed a shot and then gestured to the crowd as they booed him, essentially egging them on and inviting the jeers:

Folks noticed that in person. It wasn’t much, but looked like a tipping point, as if Tobias was having his Jalen Reagor moment. It’s almost like a rite of passage for the Philly athlete. You struggle for a period of time and the fans let you know about it.

Part two is this, which took place in the second half:

Chirping at the fans is usually a feckless exercise. He’s perfectly entitled to do it, because it’s not a one-way street here, but Harris really has been struggling against the backdrop of a $35 million dollar salary. He just seems to be fighting himself mentally this year. He’s not the assertive decision maker that became a borderline All Star last season. He’s ice cold from three and he isn’t aggressively backing down smaller guys and shooting over them, which is his bread and butter. He wants to attack close outs that aren’t really close outs. He’s putting up some uncharacteristically funky shots. Harris is so much better when he does less thinking and lets the game come to him. He’s at his very best when the game becomes automatic, but right now he resembles a manual transmission that never really gets into the proper gear. You’re messing around with the stick shift, constantly.

Acting head coach Dan Burke was asked about it after the game and gave a fairly standard answer:

Joel Embiid gave a good answer to the same question, essentially amount to “it’s Philly.” You have to sit there and take it if you’re going to dish it out. He’s been there before, Embiid. Everybody gets there at some point. You play poorly and fans let you know by booing. It’s really the only way they can communicate to you, other than being social media dickheads. And then when you turn it around and play well again, you get cheers.

It’s not complicated. Tobias is a smart guy, and thoughtful, so he knows this. It was just one of those situations where the frustration boils over and you chirp a little bit. It’s happened a bazillion times before in Philadelphia.