Tobias Harris

Tobias Harris’ struggles bring down the 76ers’ offense

The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night where Tobias Harris made his return as Philadelphia managed to put up only 94 points. Without Joel Embiid, the 76ers inevitably were going to be worse on both ends of the ball. You can live with the defensive regression as Embiid is one of the better rim protectors in the league and that can’t be replicated, but Philadelphia’s offense has been inexcusable, Embiid or not.

Over the last 10 games, the 76ers have scored only 103.8 points per 100 possessions giving Philadelphia the second-worst offensive rating in the NBA during this span. It’s worth noting that the 76ers were without Tyrese Maxey due to a concussion and Tobias Harris as he suffered from an ankle injury, but regardless, the 76ers’ offense has been abysmal even with both of them on the floor and that was proven in Philadelphia’s loss to the lakers. 

However, there was one vital factor to that loss that wasn’t prevalent in the past few games, and that was Harris who missed three consecutive games due to an ankle injury. In the games Harris missed, the 76ers went 2-1, including wins over the short-handed Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets and an ugly loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Tobias Harris goes cold against Lakers

In Friday’s loss to the Lakers, Tobias Harris recorded a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds on 6-18 shooting from the field. This is one of the instances where the box score doesn’t tell the full story and where stats can be considered empty. 

Throughout the game, Harris mindlessly posted up when he detected a mismatch and was unable to overpower defenders like D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie and settled for awkward fall-aways that misfired. Harris continued to post up on any given opportunity and often posted up into multiple defenders and it was then where he would desperately dish it to the near corner and effectively kill a possession where he posted up for at least 10 seconds or more.

To his credit, Harris did knock down a series of tough pull-up shots off the bounce to close the 1st half, but he was unable to carry that momentum into the 2nd half as he scored 12 of his 16 points throughout the first half. Harris’ lack of aggression and over-aggression were displayed in a beautiful, but chaotic way in this contest that captured all of Harris’ offensive flaws. 

When Harris wasn’t posting up, he committed defensive breakdowns including losing LeBron James, arguably the most dominant transition player in NBA history, off the fast break, and as a result, James executed a thunderous slam. Harris only attempted two three-pointers in the game as he repeatedly chose to post up rather than space the floor for Maxey, who caught fire in the 2nd half and lacked offensive help from the rest of the team. 

76ers’ success without Tobias Harris

When the 76ers won two straight games against Miami and Charlotte before Philadelphia headed out west to face Phoenix, many 76ers fans claimed that Philadelphia was genuinely a better team without Tobias Harris playing. This was quite a reaction due to the quality of opponents that the 76ers beat when Harris was sidelined, but in a sense, it may be true.

In those two games that the 76ers won, the ball was moving more freely as Nurse emphasized ball movement, screen actions that involved three players, and playing at a quick pace off defensive stops. Harris’ half-court skillset headlined by post-ups simply does not fit what the 76ers are trying to do and Philadelphia’s offense was noticeably slower and stagnant in Friday’s game in which Harris made his return.

Tobias Harris’ slump

Since Joel Embiid went down with a meniscus injury, Tobias Harris has failed to step up to the occasion as a consistent scorer and playmaker as he’s averaged an underwhelming 15.5 points per game and 2.4 assists per game on 42.1% field shooting and 29.6% perimeter shooting over the last 15 games.

There have been times when Harris has been aggressive with the ball in his handles, but poor decisions like dragged-out post-ups and driving into traffic were made and there have been other occasions where Harris appears disinterested and takes 10 shots or less. Harris has been unable to find a rhythm amid Embiid’s absence and guys like Kelly Oubre Jr. and Cam Payne have outperformed him by staying aggressive and consistent.  

To be fair, ankle injuries can greatly affect a player’s mobility and footwork, which could be part of the reason why Harris struggled to consistently get his shot off in the loss to the Lakers and it’s necessary to factor in the hip injury he was dealing with a few weeks back as well. However, Harris’ inconsistency and tendency to overthink the game has been an issue throughout his entire tenure as a 76er.

Still, it’s not just Tobias Harris

Basketball is a team sport, so Tobias Harris’ struggles aren’t the only reason that the 76ers’ offense is struggling at such a rate. The Embiid factor aside, Philadelphia simply lacks offensive firepower outside of Maxey, who has struggled early on in this West Coast road swing. Kelly Oubre Jr.’s aggressiveness at the rim and Maxey’s offensive talent can only get the 76ers so far.

Buddy Hield has been in a shooting slump as of late and has lost his minutes to Kyle Lowry and Cam Payne, who have played to their strengths, Lowry being a floor general and Payne being a scoring spark off the bench. Nicolas Batum has greatly missed Embiid’s post-gravity as he’s struggled to shoot the ball as well. Paul Reed and Mo Bamba are quality reserve centers but simply aren’t adequate as a starting big man. 

All in all, the 76ers don’t have enough to weather the storm during Embiid’s absence as the 2023 MVP masked nearly all of Philadelphia’s flaws on both ends of the floor, the 76ers can only hope to seek shelter in the play-in tournament and hope for Embiid’s return before the playoffs.

Mandatory Credit: (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Freshman journalism major at Temple University, NBA/76ers contributor for The Liberty Line, and owner of Sixercountry on Instagram, which has over 40,000 followers. I am aspiring to be a credentialed 76ers reporter and top NBA personality.

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