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Nick Nurse Says Tobias Harris Came Off the Floor Because He “Played His Guts Out” and Was Tired
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Tobias Harris started but only played 33 minutes in the Sixers’ 105-104 play-in win against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Asked why his 39 million dollar player spent the end of the game on the bench, Nick Nurse offered up this answer:
Nick Nurse on his decision to pull Tobias Harris in 4th
“I thought he was absolutely tired, that was the only reason… I thought Tobias [Harris] played his guts out for the entire game and was just on E”
▶️ https://t.co/03PQf8K0Oy#TobiasHarris #Sixers #NBA pic.twitter.com/yg8rvaM6YT— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) April 18, 2024
That’s a good coach looking out for his guy, who went 4-10 from the floor and 0-3 from three to finish with nine points on the evening. Harris was good enough on the glass, and threw four assists, but he air balled an open three pointer and had a sequence where he missed three shots in a row at the rim while grabbing his own misses.
He started the fourth quarter and played about 7 1/2 minutes, assisting Kelly Oubre, grabbing a defensive rebound, and then missing a three. He came out for Oubre at the 4:12 mark and sat on the bench for the rest of the game while Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Nic “Michael Jordan” Batum, Kyle Lowry, and Oubre closed it out.
It was one of those things though where you’re thinking to yourself, “Would Doc Rivers have done this?” Would Doc have pulled Tobias? Would he have coached them through Miami’s insufferable zone defense? Or would he have sat on his hands and done nothing while waiting to blame the fans after the game for booing in the first half?
The Sixers did not play well at all in this game, but Miami makes a lot of teams look janky, so it was to be expected. Taking that into consideration, Philly showed a lot of mettle. You feel good about the bench, the coach, and the upcoming Knicks series, with two days off for everyone to catch their breath and recalibrate here. They’ve had zero wiggle room these last couple of weeks, working Embiid back into the lineup and needing wins for seeding purposes. Not sure about you, but I’ve been waiting to exhale, like Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston.
Tobias Harris… pic.twitter.com/GxiaaiEbeR
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 18, 2024
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com