You Can Blame Tobias Harris For That Game 6 Loss
Joel Embiid scored 39 points. Tyrese Maxey dropped 12 in the 4th quarter. Those two bits of information would likely lead you to believe the Sixers forced a game 7. But there is one little problem. Tobias Harris.
The most expensive player on the team scored 0 points. He only took 2 shots. On top of that, he only grabbed 4 rebounds. Harris played 29 minutes but was invisible the entire time. For the majority of the game, the Sixers were playing 4 on 5.
Tobias Harris Ends His Sixers Career With A Whimper
At times, Tobias Harris has received too much hate. For most of this 5-year, $180 million contract, he was a decent player. Not a max-worthy player, but a decent player.
He played good defense, averaged 17 points per game, and grabbed rebounds. Not enough to be a max player, but still a net positive for the team.
Fans took out their frustrations on him because he was an easy target and did not live up to his contract. It didn’t help that there was the stigma that the Sixers chose him over Jimmy Butler. In truth, they chose Brett Brown and Ben Simmons over Jimmy Butler. Harris was the punching bag though.
Tonight he proved his haters right. He crumbled like one of his cookies. He was worse than bad. Bad would be trying and failing. He disappeared like Casper the Friendly Ghost. Vanished into thin air.
If Harris scored 5 points, they win. If he scored his usual 9 for this series, they win. But he scored 0, and was never even trying to actually score. They could have put any random player on the end of the bench in, and he would have given them at least as much as Tobias Harris did.
Wasting A Great Night By Joel Embiid
The worst part is, other than the Sixers season being over, they wasted a great night from Embiid. There was so much talk about how he falling short in elimination games. He took heat in game 5 despite his team winning, and his defense playing a part in that win.
Tonight he dropped 39 though, to go with 13 rebounds. 22 of those points came in the 2nd half.
Sadly he was not on the court at the very end, because his team somehow failed to foul Jalen Brunson, forcing Embiid to eventually foul someone. It was his 6th, and he had to leave the game.
But even on one leg, and with one good eye, he was the best player on that court. He imposed his will on the Knicks.
It went to waste though. Because two starters couldn’t find a way to score a single point. I didn’t even talk yet about Lowry dropping a goose egg as well.
Two Guys Let The Team Down
Maxey and Oubre did their part. Maxey could have done more earlier in the game, but he made up for it in the 4th. Off the bench, Buddy Hield and Nico Batum had great games, with Hield hitting 6 3s for 20 total points.
But because 2 guys couldn’t contribute, the Sixers season is over.
Kyle Lowry is 38 and clearly just doesn’t have the legs anymore to play significant minutes. That is not an excuse, and he deserves some. He might just not be a good player anymore though
But Harris is 31. He is a max player. He should be the 3rd option on this team. For some years, he was. In this series, he wasn’t even their 5th best option.
It is hard to blame an entire game on 1 or 2 guys. But you go down the line, and nearly everyone else did their part. Harris and Lowry are the only outliers. Their 0s stick out like a sore thumb in a box score where everyone else besides Paul Reed had good games.
No More Tobias Harris
I tried all these years to be a Tobias defender. I pointed out many times that his defense on Jayson Tatum kept them in that Celtics series.
Even this year I went to bat for him. When people said they wanted to trade him for scraps just to be rid of him, I said he had more value on the team than away from it.
I was wrong. If in this series, they had an average NBA player, they would have won it. If there was anyone at that spot who had a pulse, they would have won the series. Instead they had Tobias Harris.
So I was wrong. I apologize for sticking up for the guy all these years. For once, the haters were right.
The only good thing about this loss is we won’t have to deal with him anymore. They can hopefully take that money they paid him, and get someone who won’t crumble in important games.
Good riddance. I don’t think we have ever seen a player go out with this little of a fight. That includes Ben Simmons.
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The All-Time Roster of Sixers Players We Underrate
Point Guard- Andre Miller
(Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
Being the guy who replaces Allen Iverson for the Sixers is a tall task. He was never going to be what AI was. But Millers was as professional as it gets. His presence kept the Sixers at least somewhat relevant for his 3 years here. He played great defense, ran the floor well, and scored 15.9 points per game. That period for the Sixers is pretty forgettable. But Miller at least did his part in giving Sixers fans something to watch.
Shooting Guard- Hersey Hawkins
(Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images)
The Sixers were not a great team when Hersey Hawkins played for them. They had Charles Barkley, but not much else went well for them. Which of course eventually led to them trading Charles. Which to this day is one of the worst trades in franchise history. But Hersey Hawkins was at least one other player worth appreciating in that era. In his 5 seasons here he averaged 19 points and shot over 40% from 3. And in perhaps one of his best moments with the Sixers, he once got 9 steals in one game against the Celtics. That is still a franchise record, though Allen Iverson matched it twice.
Small Forward- Andre Iguodala
(Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
Iguodala is one of those players we did not appreciate enough while he was here. And for reasons that are not all his fault. Sixers fans were desperate for a Star Scorer. That is just not who Iggy is. He did a lot of great things and would have made a perfect complement to a theoretical star player if the Sixers had ever landed one. But they never did pair him with that guy, and it put a spotlight on Andre Iguodala that he was not equipped to live up to. Still, he was great for what he is, and we would all love to have someone similar to him on this Sixers team right now.
Power Forward- Thad Young
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Thad Young was never a star. But what he was is a guy who gave it his all every single night. He even won the NBA Hustle Award later in his career when playing with the Bulls. He averaged 13.7 pts and 5.5 rebounds per game in his 7 years with the Sixers. He even stuck around for a bit into the Process years.
Center- Samuel Dalembert
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
There are a lot of great Centers in Sixers’ history. Joel Embiid, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Daryl Dawkins. It doesn’t leave much room to appreciate other centers. But Samuel Dalembert is worth taking some time to appreciate. Yeah, he was not scoring like those other guys. But for 8 years he gave the Sixers a pretty great rim protector. He averaged 1.9 blocks per game in his Sixers career and even had a few seasons where that number crept up over 2.
6th Man- Kyle Korver
(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
This is cheating because Korver also flirted with being a starter here. But what made me pick him was his final year here, where he played in 74 games but started just one. And yet, he led the league in FT% and was 9th in 3pt%. In one game he even scored a career-high 31 points off the bench against the Knicks.
